The Hand of Wisdom
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to The Lost Legacy. After the dramatic events of their last adventure, Subaru & co. have finally begun middle school. But trouble always seems to knock at their door and such Misora is abducted. Yet it will soon become clear that the abduction is nothing more than a trick to draw them into a deadly trap. Will they figure out who the real culprit is or die in the attempt?
1. Chapter 1: Abduction

**The Hand of Wisdom**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Abduction**

18:45 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 15th, 2205…

"…Rip 'em! Slash 'em! Take that, puny fellas!"

"… Rock… You're being too noisy…"

Hoshikawa Subaru, aged thirteen, was trying to complete his homework assignments while at home: he sported the typical middle school uniform colored back.

"Who cares, man? I'm so gonna rip 'em to shreds! Grrr!"

Subar sighed and leaned his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers so as to allow his chin to rest on his hands while War – Rock was floating in a corner of the room, slashing the air with his claws and roaring like he was busting Viruses.

"Jeez. Be quiet or Boss will get angry."

"Bossing bossy of bosses?"

"Whatever! Listen. Boss gave you an ultimatum: stop trying to drive me crazy or else he'll store you in the HQ's server while giving me the ability to solo Denpa – Henkan! I'm about to give him the go-ahead!" Subaru suddenly stood up and faced War Rock while sounding both serious and exasperated.

"Ah… Eh… Okay, okay…" War Rock gulped.

"Go do whatever you wanna do _outside_ my room. Move it!"

War Rock warped out while Subaru brought the right hand to his forehead.

"About bloody time! Trying to come up with silly pairings and edited photos to stir up jealousy…! And his vulgar jokes, too…! I couldn't stand them anymore! I swear!"

He sat down on the chair and fumed.

"Really… Well! I've finally done it: I've begun middle school! We've had a few exams already and my marks are good. Gonta, however… He's barely managing to pass… I suspect he must've copied the homework answers from somewhere… Else how could he have done them in so little time when he hadn't worked on them during the summer?"

His Hunter – VG beeped and he picked it up: a "Real Wave" screen deployed to display the caller.

"Subaru – kun!"

"Ah! Kiboyama Gino – kun! What's wrong?"

"Well… Nothing, really… But I'd like some advice…"

"I'll be happy to provide it."

Kiboyama Gino was a teen around Subaru's age that had brown messy hair and blue eyes: he was also wearing the middle school uniform and looked like a friendly person.

"Eh… Dragon – san, the cook… He always makes long speeches and while I don't mind them I see that everyone else tells him to shorten them or get to the point… What should I do?" Gino asked.

"Let him be, Gino – kun. Dragon – san is sometimes absent-minded because he believes in spirituality and such but he's a good cook nevertheless." Subaru smiled.

"I see. Thanks for the advice."

"How does it feel to live in the HQ?"

"Well… I can't complain! I have a bathroom and my room. And when I want to shake off tension then I visit the observation deck just across the corridor… The views are breath-taking!" He giggled.

"As long as you find it a nice place then it's alright."

"Thank you, Subaru – kun."

"Gino Il Napolitano~! B-B-B-Bertie~ is gonna come play an amusing game with ya~!" A voice rang out off-screen.

"You keep on saying it, Omega – san, sir, yet it never happens. I do believe you are intending to get me nervous, sir, but that will be a pointless thing to achieve, sir." Gino politely replied.

"He's using the interphone again?" Subaru sighed.

"Yeah. Because I lock the door from the inside…"

"OMEGA!" A man's voice roared.

"Ops. Hijack Man hijacked the line."

"What "Hijack Man"?" The man grumbled.

"Prosecutor Johnson will argue that classmate equals to lover."

"WHAT IN THE… That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Have you gone crazy or what?"

"I still don't know how Omega – san can be so care-free when Vadous – san is scolding him for his reckless behavior." Gino sighed.

"Trust me. He's impossible outside of a battle."

"By the way, _shachou_~! Did ya find Futaba – chan?"

"I did! But he's still in Choina because he's going through debriefing and has to declare as the sole eyewitness against the man who was holding him hostage. If all goes on schedule… Then he should be back by next week and Subaru already knows this!" The man, Vadous, exclaimed.

"Good! Then I can finally film them doing it "hard-style" and distribute the recording 'round the town!"

"No! You won't! I'm about to shut you in the capsule for another fifteen days to see if you learn the lesson!" Vadous roared.

"Welcome to the club." Subaru sarcastically told Gino.

"I get the irony, thank you."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! I'm about to design the Ultimate Poll!"

"By all the…"

"Ahem! What's the connection between Ophiucus and "you-know-what" stuff? Choices are: deadly, rumor, nothing at all!"

"Ophiucus?" Gino frowned.

"The Denpa Body who manipulated _iinchou_ into Denpa – Henkan back when the FM invasion, over a year and a half ago… She had fame of being ruthless and deadly." Subaru explained.

"Ah. So he's basing his poll upon those rumors?"

"Totally."

"Subaru~!"

"Wha! Gonta! What happened? Why did you join the conversation all of a sudden?"

"I need help!" Ushijima Gonta pleaded.

"Not the homework again… Go download whatever cheat sheet you've found and bear with it: you can't count on always having someone to save your hide!" Subaru sighed.

"Like Subaru – kun says, Gonta – kun! Handle it!" Saishouin Kizamaro added as he adjusted his glasses and smiled.

"Kizamaro! Ya jerk!"

"Whatever. You're slow." Jack told him.

"What's going on? Gonta! Are you cheating?" Shirogane Luna questioned with a hint of annoyance.

"E~H? No, no! _Iinchou_! I'm an honest guy!"

"Prove it. Your homework reeks of copy-paste." Luna told him while looking suspicious.

"Buro~! I told ya they'd find out." Ox reminded him.

"Probabilities of _iinchou_'s anger being unleashed at full power clock at an estimate 95%..." Pedia whispered.

"Heh. Let's see that fatty guy plead for his burgers." Jack grinned.

"Uh-oh. Plug your ears!" Mode warned.

"GONTA~!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"YOU FATMAN! HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YA? YA GOTTA SWEAT TO TRIUMPH IN LIFE! SO USE YOUR HEAD BECAUSE YOU HAVE IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE THAN THINKING OF FATS AND CALORIES! NOW MOVE THOSE FATTY LEGS OF YOURS AND DO THE HOMEWORK! AND IF I FIND OUT YOU CHEATED AGAIN I WILL SPEAK WITH THE HOMEROOM TEACHER! GOTCHA~?" Luna exploded.

"Man. What a display." Gino muttered.

"Welcome to the club." Subaru sighed.

"Weird, though. You can send a message at the same time to various Hunter – VGs yet how can you interlink them? Unless…" Vadous' voice muttered.

There was the sound of whistling and Vadous could be heard grumbling something.

"I know what's going on. I'll try to solve it. Someone is gonna find out what happens when you mess with devices." He grumbled.

"AND REMEMBER: I WANT TO SEE SOME EFFORT OR ELSE YA WON'T GET PAST THE 1ST TRIMESTER! GOTCHA~?" Luna kept on yelling given how she apparently didn't hear the ongoing conversation.

"Y-yes, ma'am…!"

"What a useless Fatman!"

All screens shut down and Subaru rolled his eyes in defeat.

_That Gonta…_

18:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I WANNA PLACE A CURSE ON THE JERK WHO STOLE THE TOOL-BOX AND HID IT SOMEWHERE~! SHOW YOUR HIDES! I'M ABOUT TO DESTROY SOMETHING AT THIS RATE~!"

"Now the tool-box? Last week it was 5 Hunter – VGs."

"Pororon! Another studio, then?"

"Guess so or it could be a guy who thinks he's funny."

"Why not a gal?"

"A gal wouldn't fall for such lame jokes. They'd try to stir up some jealousy maybe but that's all: they wouldn't bother to do something to stupid and manly like that."

"Pororon! Gotcha."

"Please calm down, Urakata – san. Yelling and stressing won't do anything, sir!"

"Like Suzuka says…"

"I know you're right, but it's my duty to look after the well-fare of the staff: how can we name it well-fare if someone hid the tool-box just when I need it to fix the water drainage pipe? We can't have to go to our homes when need to use the bathroom because someone wants me to call a plumber and waste money on something which I could fix myself in 5 minutes' time! This is another studio's work or some magazine with a pervert old man at the head of it!"

Hibiki Misora (sporting her usual pink sweater plus jeans and her typical boots) rolled her eyes as she looked up from a notebook and towards the room's door: Harp lifted her eyebrows upon hearing the scandal Urakata Mamorou started up and both Suzuka's and Ice's attempts at calming him.

"But he's right. I'm sure this is the work of such a jerk. Jeez. I don't do my songs for money, silly-headed-guys! I do them for everyone's sake. But you greedy people don't get it." She muttered.

"Mamorou – san! I found the tool-box, in the cup of a tree behind the event stage!" Someone reported.

"About hellish time! Hand it over! I'm gonna go fix this NOW."

"Well then… Let's go back into our room, Ice."

"Roger."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah." A chuckle rang out.

"Pororon. I know this signature. Rock. Show your beastly and rude hide before Misora makes mincemeat outta ya."

"War Rock. Didn't they tell you it's rude to get into someone's room without their permission?"

"Ask Subari~!"

War Rock suddenly showed up and Misora looked at him through the mirror with a totally bored and uninterested face: War Rock was grinning and Harp looked annoyed.

"I guess you drove him to the edge of his patience."

"Who knows, _meitantei_ Misora~?" He teased.

"Jeez. Go collect lilies at the bottom of the ocean and do us a favor, War Rock. Or go tell Moon Disaster his polls are a _disaster_ because his name is Moon _Disaster_." Misora snapped at him.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! That's a good one! I'll tell him he brings disaster along! Get ready, Moonie~! I'll make ya dance to the rhythm of MY _scenario_! War Rock – sama's _scenario_~! Mwah, hah, hah! I'm gonna come up with the Disaster Rock genre!"

War Rock vanished while laughing and Misora looked totally exasperated at his behavior.

"You silly Denpa Body…" Harp annoyingly muttered.

"I need some fresh air. Besides, it's still 15 Celsius out there. It isn't _that_ cold yet 'cause it's only October."

"Pororon! Then I'll go check the news. Maybe Ox has come up with something intelligent, for once." Harp giggled.

"Doubt it but whatever…"

Misora headed out of the room and inputted a command into a control panel using an ID card before heading down the corridor and into the main hall: the receptionist was working with the computer and Misora merely waved a hand to her and she waved it back: Misora stepped outside and stretched.

"Leaving, Hibiki – san?" The security Wizard asked.

"No. I'm stretching my legs. I'll be by the tennis court if Urakata – san wants to talk with me. But I guess I'll be back in about 10 minutes… Tell him that if you may." She told him.

"Roger."

Misora began to walk down the entrance avenue and stopped next to the tennis court and the Wave Station: she inspected the parking and found both the dummy car and one greenish car which had a drawing on the trunk door.

"Oh my."

The drawing was a human hand having the five fingers open and extended plus the shape of an eye drawn inside it coupled with a red dot in the very center which surely stood for the iris: the whole thing was painted in red coloring and looked like it'd been painted using oil-based spray cans.

_Funny graffiti… Maybe it's part of the new season's decoration? Someone was saying that the simple plot of playing detective investigating rumors around the middle school and such wasn't too "thrilling" and someone should add some "magical stuff" to make it "cooler" yet Urakata – san shot that down. We don't need to act like _anime_ copycats thank you very much. Now get serious._

She began to pace around and stuffed her hands into the jeans' pockets as she seemingly thought about something.

_That's it. I need to say it loud and clear: I don't do songs to earn money in retribution! I do them to see smiles on peoples' faces! Hah!_

She suddenly whipped around and delivered a kick to a figure which had jumped from behind towards her: the figure wore a black tunic with a hood which hid its face and gender: Misora's kick hit the figure's jaw (given how it was only about 8~10 centimeters taller than her) and the assaulter collapsed into the ground without a sound: she heard a sound and did the same thing for a second figure thus knocking it out as well: she then took five steps backwards to lean her back against a tree and glanced over her right shoulder to see if there was anyone else: nothing happened.

_I knew this would end up happening. Some crazy fans, I guess. I'll go report to the security Wizard and let's bring the Satella Police: given how I am a member of the "Raid Troop" then this can be processed as assault to a Satella Police member. _

She began to head back towards the main avenue when she suddenly felt something hitting the back of her neck and getting stuck there yet only part of it made contact with her skin given how she'd put the hood on and it had reduced the efficacy of whatever had hit her yet she quickly began to feel weak and sleepy.

_W-what? What the heck is this…? _

She managed to turn around: one of the assaulters had recovered and was brandishing a gun on the right hand (gloved) while moving in an erratic manner: it looked like it hadn't totally recovered from the earlier blow.

_Grah! Forget them! I need to… get to… the studios' entrance…! Or close by so that the Security Wizard can see me…! This thing seems to be some kind of anesthetic round…! Maybe if I remove it…!_

She concentrated and managed to pull it out to then try to run yet she collapsed before she could begin: her body felt heavy and unresponsive: before she could stand up again another round hit her and she collapsed face-down on the ground: her eyelids felt heavy and her vision was blurry.

_W-what's… going on…?_

19:05 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Is she sleeping at last, Marie?"

"She is, Sophie."

"I had never felt such damage before… My lower jaw is aching and it hurts to move it…"

"We were not prepared yet we knew she was a member of a special police unit: she would have training on self-defense…"

"This is the first time I have seen a girl with such strength… But this is first time we have traveled outside of our Normandy as well…"

"It matters not, Sophie. The orders from Master were very clear: we are to immobilize her wrists and ankles plus gag and blindfold her with the cellophane tape."

The two figures were looming over the unconscious Misora and speaking in French between each other: they then carefully lifted her and carried her until the open trunk of the car with the _graffiti_ drawing: one of them took out a roll of cellophane tape and taped it around her wrists and ankles before covering her mouth and eyes: she also placed her arms behind her back before closing the door.

"Let us go. Master is waiting."

"Roger."

They climbed into the vehicle and it began to run away from the Okudama Studios site: one of the two women took out a Hunter – VG and dialed a number on the screen which only displayed blackness.

"Master. Mission successful. We are on our way to Point P."

"Good work, my disciples. Head over to here… It is time to greet our temporary guest." A man replied in French.

"Roger, Master."

The man chuckled while the two women remained silent…


	2. Chapter 2: Desperate chase

**Chapter 2: ****Desperate chase**

19:15 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 15th…

"… Phew. Homework's over… Hum… Night is approaching. It'll be a slightly colder night than other years…"

"Subaru!"

"Huh? Harp. What's wrong?"

"Misora! She's gone!"

"Gone, you say!"

"Yeah! I can't understand it!"

"Calm down! Explain what happened."

Subaru had been looking out into Kodama Town from his bedroom's window when Harp suddenly showed up with the news: he gasped but then calmed down and put on a serious face.

"She left her room in Okudama Studios to go for a walk of 10 minutes while I went to search for news. But when I returned she wasn't there and I couldn't find her anymore. She'd locked the room using her ID card so it's proof enough that she hadn't returned! I requested of Urakata – san to let me see security footage from the Wave Station." She listed.

"And…?" Subaru asked.

"Two figures assaulted her but she fought them back with ease yet they then shot her with something which apparently drugged her or something: they then dragged her aboard a car with a weird symbol painted on it and fled. Those two talked in another idiom which I couldn't identify and Urakata – san couldn't either."

"Let's go see the Satella Police: if the car is really that peculiar then we could set up blockades given how it can't have gotten too far from Kodama Town yet and there are several controls given how there'd been a lot of smuggling goods using this area as a hub. Follow me, Harp! I won't let such bad guys get away with it!"

19:24 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Here we are… The Satella Police HQ! Let's go find Akatsuki – san and explain it to him."

"Yeah. He'll be able to help…"

"… Help finding a boyfriend for Misora? Mwah, hah, hah."

"Jeez."

"Come on."

War Rock had shown up in the midst of the vast outer yard and begun joking again to the exasperation of both Subaru and Harp as they were about to step into the gargantuan building.

"What's with the rush?"

"Misora – chan got abducted and we have to rescue her."

"Oho. So the classic "hero rescues princess" _scenario_ happened and not the other way around which was back in the summer of 2204?" War Rock grinned.

"Shut up or I'll tell Boss." Subaru snapped at him.

"Che."

They rushed inside and past the empty reception counter: they climbed up the stairs next and turned left to head into the Satella Police HQ just in time to see Akatsuki Shidou yell at someone over the Hunter – VG while Acid looked on silence.

"… Sheesh! I dunno why you keep on ringing this number over and over again but let's settle this already: I AIN'T THE LOCAL BUTCHER'S! I AIN'T! I AIN'T! GOTCHA ALREADY YOU SILLY-HEAD?"

"Mr. Butcher, you must be stressed with all these requests of meat for Christmas and all…" An elderly man could be heard replying.

"Christmas? We're in October! Don't you have a calendar and don't you read the newspapers or what?"

"Ah? We're in October? I could've sworn we were in December. One's memory isn't what it used to be…"

"I AIN'T THE LOCAL BUTCHER! IT'S NOT LIKE I SPEAK IN SOME UNDECIPHERABLE DIALECT, IS IT? I SPEAK STANDARD TOKYO PREFECTURE JAPANESE AND YA DO AS WELL! DO YA HEAR ME, MISTER?" Akatsuki yelled at him.

"My niece tells me people nowadays are stressed by work..." The elderly man kept on saying.

"By all the…!"

"I believe he must be mistaken in his perceptions and would need attention from the social services." Acid deduced.

"Jeez! Alright, mister! Have a cold shower: it's good for the head! And now good evening and good luck!"

"Wait, Mr. Butcher! What about…?"

Akatsuki cut the call and grumbled something while he picked a "Sweet Candy" and began to chew at it.

"Acid! Block this number."

"Roger. We have visits, by the way."

"Huh? Ah. Subaru, War Rock and Harp… What's wrong?" He greeted as he looked over to them.

"Akatsuki – san, Misora – chan has been abducted!"

"What!" Akatsuki gasped.

"The culprits fled in a car with a strange symbol drawn into it and it hasn't been 30 minutes even! Harp! Can you describe the car?"

"Green… The crest showed a hand with an eye drawn into its palm… Colored red… Looked spooky… The attackers are foreign women with black tunics and hoods…" Harp described.

"Good! Acid!"

"Roger. I will go retrieve the security footage from the Okudama Studios Wave Station." Acid confirmed.

"Try to be fast! Let's radio this description to begin with and then we'll supply the footage." Akatsuki rallied.

"So, Akatsuki. What have you done today? Start up a war in the Middle East, perhaps?"

"Jeez."

"Ah! Queen Tia – sensei…"

"Funny how you keep on addressing me in that manner even though I ceased being your teacher time ago…"

Queen Tia had walked in while looking totally unimpressed and Akatsuki didn't like her sarcasm: Subaru nervously greeted her and she merely lifted the right eyebrow.

"Too bad!" War Rock told her.

"Too bad… What?"

"Your target grew wings and flew!" He laughed.

"Is that so?"

"Jeez! War Rock! This is not a kidding business: Misora – chan has been abducted by two foreign ladies and we need to find out whom they are and if we can intercept them!" Subaru grumbled.

"Ah. Foreigners…" Queen Tia sounded like she'd been expecting it to happen all along.

"Yeah. And they fled in this fancy car." Akatsuki replied as he displayed a photograph of the car.

"The crest in that car…? Hmmm… I now have a feeling like I've seen it somewhere before, time ago." She muttered.

"Well! If not we can question them if it has any meaning at all or they are copy-cats." Akatsuki shrugged.

"This is Patrol 09 reporting from 45 km SSE of Kodama Town's eastern periphery where Okudama Studios are at… We're checking all recordings and one such car drove past this point 8 minutes ago. We've forwarded the message to the next control 15 km further on and to the one 30 km from here: given the average 2km per minute speed in this expressway then they can't have covered more than 16~18 km ever since it was lastly spotted. Besides, if what they want is a discrete spot then heading over to the coast is the logical course of action and they won't deviate from this current itinerary." A report came in.

"Good! We're already making progress."

"This Patrol 10… The car ran past out post 2 minutes ago so Patrol 11 will definitely intercept it given how there are no exits in this leg of the expressway… It has to be 4~6 km from our position by now and 11~9 km from Patrol 11's position… They will make contact in the next 5~6 minutes at their current speed. Given the low traffic today it's not being hard to force cars to brake and be checked up. Any descriptions of the drivers, by the way?" Another patrol requested.

"Black tunics plus hoods and gloves. You don't see people hiding their faces like that when driving." Akatsuki replied as he fast-forwarded the Wave Station security footage and stopped when the two of them carried Misora to the car.

"Roger."

Subaru sat down on a chair Akatsuki signaled for and sighed along with Harp while War Rock whistled something as if trying to make it look he had some degree of blame for it: Queen Tia merely folded her arms and directed a cold and hostile continuous glare at Akatsuki: he grumbled something and focused on listening to the footage.

"French. They speak French. So they're from France. And they have come just to do this, I'd say. They might have an illegal charter plane to fly out of the country as well… Or maybe not… Hard to say at this stage…"

"Hard to say if you are going to start up a war in France, Akatsuki, but it wouldn't surprise me if you did."

"Jeez. Tell that to Moon Disaster. He must bring "disaster" wherever he goes to!" Akatsuki grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I got told the same thing a while ago by that one over there and then I told Moonie to go crown the Moon!" War Rock laughed.

"Please…" Subaru sounded as if he found the whole thing to be of very poor taste.

"Hello? Patrol 11? All ready? The car should reach you in another 1~2 minutes: they may be desperate and try to drive through, even. Do you have Wizards with you?" Akatsuki warned.

"Don't worry, Akatsuki! We brought two armored vans: and anyone with enough age to drive knows that it's suicide to crash against something at 120 km/h!" One officer reported.

"Good!" Akatsuki smiled.

"A normal car… Please halt. Show us the ID and open the trunk: routine control."

"Roger, officer."

"Hmmm? I can see it through the binoculars having parked in the emergency lane about 250 meters from us. The lights are blinking and the drivers are onboard. They have a Hunter – VG. Maybe they hadn't thought of this and are discussing what to do with a superior authority." Another office reported.

"Patrol 10! Is there anyone checking the opposite direction side of the expressway?"

"Of course. Patrol 20."

"Good. Tell them to be on guard: those two could be desperate enough to try to jump into the other lane and speed back the way they came so we have to be ready: there aren't any exits before any of the two patrols' positions so they can't do anything else but head seawards or inwards: 50/50 chance!" Akatsuki commanded.

"Quick thinking, Akatsuki! This is Patrol 11. They've jumped into the other lane and are heading back inwards!"

"Patrol 20! Get ready to stop them! Shoot at their hover engines to disable them or use an EMP device!"

"We happen to have one to catch speed-over people… And it's always loaded as per regulations. Ryuukichi, take it out!"

"Roger, Commander!"

"Those two should get there in about 3~4 minutes."

"We will be ready. Ryuukichi has good aim. Aim for the engine and set the EMP to the lowest power just to shut down their systems during 300 seconds before the auto-reset kicks in. But 5 minutes is enough of a time to make them come down and rescue the hostage." The Commander of Patrol 20 reported.

"Commander! I can see a distant flash, sir."

"Binoculars… Hmmm… Our clients. They're driving like a tornado was hot on their trail." The commander sounded slightly amused.

"What's the max distance that thing can shoot?"

"250 meters."

"It'll be close. If that car does 2000 meters every 60 seconds then it covers that distance in 13 seconds more or less." Akatsuki muttered.

"But once the car is hit then it will drop into the ground and lose all speed because there will be no hovering. All modern vehicles work like that, after all." The Commander told them.

"Closing in… About 750 meters from us by now… All systems green and I only need two seconds to pull the trigger."

"Get ready, Ryuukichi!"

"Roger, Commander.

"Come on…!" Subaru anxiously muttered.

"500 meters…! The actual blast only needs 5 seconds to hit the vehicle: they can't react to dodge because it's invisible and unless they're diabolically excellent drivers, then it's impossible to maneuver in 5 seconds except if you brake." The Command mutters.

"And braking won't help them either. 300 meters. I'm ready to fire upon command, sir." Ryuukichi added.

"Come a bit closer… 275 meters… Fire!"

"Roger."

There was a sound over the line followed by the sudden humming of a car's hover engines and a loud THUD as something heavy hit the ground all of a sudden.

"Good shot, Ryuukichi. Squad! Seize them!"

"Roger, sir."

"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! What bothersome foolish people! Now I will take profit of this dramatic scene I've staged for and use this little girl as bait for Rock Man! Then I will defeat the gnat and be the most powerful man in the world!" A familiar voice rang out.

"By all the… You're not gonna tell us that's Phantom Black." Subaru actually cursed.

"… What do we do, Commander? We're not properly armed to face such an opponent!"

"Someone disable the car! Akatsuki! We need your help over here! Can you make it on time?"

"No need for Acid Disaster, ya see~! I'll handle things, Hyde Manor Owner!" Omega's voice rang out.

"At least someone recognizes my noble lineage!"

"Come on, Hyde… You didn't set any of this up. You just happened to roaming around at random and picked up the radio exchanges. And I'm sure he made that title up just to troll you…" Phantom sighed.

"Silence!"

"Fine. But he who warns a traitor is not."

There was a sudden sound like air being sucked off a room before several gasps came in.

"Huh… _Shachou_? You're not gonna like this."

"What did you do NOW?" Vadous questioned.

"It wasn't me. Someone activated the portal machine and has sucked the whole car inside of it."

"True! Some kind of purple rift opened and sucked it in. Those two had some kind of backup." One officer reported.

"But… Who? That technology is Top-Secret and I don't know anyone else apart from Boss who could use it and even less to suck a whole car and warp it elsewhere!" Subaru gasped.

"The GPS signal from Hibiki's transmitter vanished too so they warped somewhere underground… The machine to do that must be pretty big or they directed the exit spot at being the destination…" Vadous muttered with obvious annoyance.

"NO! My perfect chance is gone! Grah! I will have to take this frustration out into something!" Phantom Black cursed.

"Into your foreign valet?" Omega taunted.

"No! Into you lowlife!" Phantom Black roared.

"It's about to rain Hyde Manors."

"What?"

THUD! PATAF! BLOF! CRASH! WHACK! SMASH!

"Guah! Guo~h! Wo~h! Gya~h!"

"Behold my faster-than-light barrage of kicking and punching without any _Star Trek _techno-babble." Omega laughed.

"That was silly. Really." Vadous grumbled.

"Ask the Count of Hyde Manor." Omega joked.

"Stop with the Hyde Manor jokes."

"Ugh… Agh… Y-you lowlife… M-my ace in the hole w-will…"

"Your cloak will grow teeth?"

"I didn't mean that!"

"Your cloak will make you feel confident?"

"That's not my point!"

"Your valet has to go and sew together what will be left of it after I rip it to pieces with my saber?" Omega laughed again.

"Grfjtx!"

"Hyde… If you _DO_ value your hide, I'd get outta here. Or else the valet will try to play the "threatening letter" tactic to the Prime Minister and that'll end up badly for you and me." Phantom whispered but was loud enough to be picked up by the microphone.

"I'll remember this!"

"Too bad. He was missing the Paddington 3:33 PM express."

"I know that punch-line already or whatever you name it. Get back here."

"Through DHL Express!"

"The situation has turned more serious. Who are those two French women and why did they abduct Misora? I hope it isn't something "ugly"…" Akatsuki muttered.

"Let's hope so, too." Vadous sighed.

"The crest… The crest…" Queen Tia muttered.

Subaru made a grimace and closed a fist.

_I won't let the culprits get away with this!_


	3. Chapter 3: Book of Glyphs

**Chapter 3: Book of Glyphs **

14:34 PM (France Time), Friday October the 15th…

"… By all the… My head hurts like hell and I'm so dizzy. And they did get to abduct me. But if they believe they'll have it easy to get away with it then think again. Subaru – kun will search the whole world if needed! And you can expect the same from both the Satella Police and the "Subspace"…!"

Misora woke up while muttering aloud and sitting up on the bed she was laying into.

The room had just the bed, a small table, a chair and an adjacent bathroom: a lamp hanging from the ceiling provided the light and there was one closed door across the room which surely was the exit.

Misora looked at her wrists and ankles to see remains of the tape and around her cheeks as well.

"Hum. So they taped me and then put me on a car… If they show their hides again then they're gonna get another beating up."

The door suddenly opened and one of the cloaked women walked in while aiming the gun at her and holding a piece of paper on her left hand which she left atop the table: she then signaled for it and Misora lifted an eyebrow as she walked over to it and read it.

"Please follow her."

_So they're foreigners and they don't speak Japanese hence why she brought this note from someone else… And from the handwriting it'd say it's a man. Whatever. I can trick them and set the safety on the gun to then brawl it outta them any time. But it'd be wiser to find out where I am._

Misora merely pocketed her hands and walked out past the cloaked woman as if she wasn't there: she heard the door of the room closing the woman quickly walked to in front of her while aiming the gun: Misora directed a skeptical glare at it and the woman seemed to be surprised but headed up a set of stairs: Misora followed after her and they ended up in another corridor.

_So I was in the basement… The closer I get to the surface, better, because I asked Dr. Lartes to insert a chip implant like Subaru – kun's one on me: it includes a powerful GPS tracer which can't be intercepted and can only be blocked by being underground…_

The woman opened had her walk down for another minute or two until they reached a set of two wooden doors: she knocked on them and there was a clapping sound from the inside so she opened one of them and signaled for Misora to get inside.

_So! We're going to meet the jerk behind this?_

She stepped into a living room having a rectangular table in the middle, a fireplace on the north end, a bookcase on the right wall and a large "Real Wave" screen floating half-way across the left wall with two armchairs placed nearby.

"Welcome, Hibiki – san." A voice rang out.

Misora looked at the head of the table and spotted a young man who didn't strike as being older than fifteen or sixteen years old: he had neatly combed blonde hair and blue clear eye irises.

The young man was dressed in a black high school uniform including a tie plus brown shoes: he struck as being polite and elegant.

_I'd say meter and sixty, closer to a meter and seventy… So he's the one behind this? He doesn't look like the vulgar type. Or you're gonna tell me this guy prefers to keep his distance and merely have me around to play the gentleman. Whatever. I'll get to the bottom of this._

"Please have a seat." He invited.

Misora sat on the armchair opposite him and folded her arms while looking unimpressed: the young man then said something in French to the woman so she bowed and calmly walked out while closing the door behind them.

"Welcome to my manor. I am Alexander Ferné."

"A Frenchman?"

"Correct."

"So this is somewhere in France." She immediately deduced.

"Obviously." He confirmed.

"Paris?"

"Normandy."

"Normandy, huh…" She lifted the right eyebrow.

"I apologize if Marie and Sophie were a bit… brusque."

"Marie and Sophie? So they are women after all?"

"My mother's branch twin cousins, to be exact. They are 15 years old and I am 16 years old. I believe you are about 14 by now, am I right?"

"Yeah. So? What do you gain from this?"

"What do I gain? Good question." He smiled.

"Or rather… What does your _Boss_ gain from this?" She rephrased.

"Who said I had a boss?" He looked surprised.

"I don't see you as the vulgar, rude and pervert type. Maybe you're the type who'd never dare to touch their idols yet something on you gives me the vibe that you're a pawn of someone else." Misora told him.

"Ah? Is that so?"

"Let me guess. The one behind this is a man on his 30s, with an Austria –like manner of clothing and having blonde hair." She described with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Eh… It could be, but…" He muttered as if he'd been caught off-guard by the description.

"He hides behind a balaclava." She deduced.

"No, but…"

"A bike's helmet, then."

"No… A European armor helmet…"

"I dunno if he told you his name but he's named Hyde."

"Well… I only know of him as "Lord Centurion"…" He trailed off.

"How fitting." She dully replied.

"A-ah? Is that so?" He looked surprised.

"So? Why are you obeying him? Blackmail? Extortion? Threats?"

"More or less…"

"Give me his number and I'll tell him how pathetic he really is."

"I don't have it."

"Jeez. I'm a member of the "Raid Troop" and we've been chased by this guy ever since April, 2204. He's pathetic and weak. He just wants to believe he's come up with a perfect _scenario_ to draw my friends out and try to defeat them just like he did in June, 2204. But his tricks are old and silly. Now give me that number or I'll have you kiss the concrete floor in 10 seconds' time." She dully told him.

"B-but… I am being honest! My Hunter – VG… I was given it via a delivery service! And it only works to answer to his calls! There are no logs and there is no memory drive to store anything else: it stays locked and only unlocks when a call comes in!" Ferné pleaded.

"Then that ain't Hyde. He wouldn't come up with something so complicated. He'd rather start going berserk in the midst of Paris to try to set up bait." Misora yawned as if indicating her total lack of interest.

"Then who could it be?"

"Dunno. Maybe a fan of Dealer."

"Dealer?"

"Ever heard of Mr. King, the "philanthropist"?"

"I have."

"He directed a criminal gang and tried to extortion the world using Meteor G. Didn't you all see his live broadcast?" Misora reminded him.

"Ah! I remember. So "Lord Centurion" may be someone who was fond of the chaos he organized…"

"Or King in person, too… Does he sound like an adult man?"

"Actually… He speaks Japanese, but… Sometimes he seems to get stuck at a point or two in his sentences so he stops and seems to look it up. He mutters something in a foreign idiom which I don't recognize yet I believe it may be from somewhere in Asia…" He admitted.

"But apart from that, can you guess the type of person he is?"

"Well… I'm not sure given how he always uses "ware" as personal pronoun yet he ends the sentences with the "da" particle thus pointing out it's a man yet his voice sounds muffled or distorted by the helmet. So I can't settle it as to how old he may be…" Ferné explained.

"And? What will he gain from this?"

"I do not know. He merely told me to organize this and said he would contact me with further orders." He confessed.

"Fine. But I'll hearing into the conversation to try to guess his age and if I can spot a peculiar dialect. And I don't care how long you're obliged to keep me here because I know the Satella Police will find me sooner or later just that you know it." She shrugged.

"… Hmmm? Marie, Sophie… Why are you overhearing?"

Ferné had looked past Misora towards the doors to find one of them open by a slight crack.

"W-we are sorry, Master!" Both gasped.

"Jeez. Go prepare the lunch."

"Lunch? At 8 in the evening?" Misora looked surprised.

"But this is France."

"I'd forgotten. Time zones."

She then spotted something on the shelf above the fireplace which was a glass case containing a book having some glyphs drawn on its cover including the "hand with the eye on the palm" glyph.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Hmmm? Ah. _The Book of Glyphs_… I inherited it from my father, Chief Inspector Nicolas Ferné of the Normandy Police. He got it from the stuff confiscated by a band of thieves who'd even assaulted a private space station… This book, as far as I know, was bought in an auction by a Netherlands man, Mr. Van der Miar. But then those thieves stole it and happened to end up finding the underground shelter where "some people" were hiding at. A "giant" forced them to give them the book in exchange for letting them go. And now that you've brought Mr. King's activities up, I remember about him showcasing this book as part of his private collection." He narrated.

"And when Dealer went down those thieves claimed it back yet they were found by your father and he decided to keep the book out of the confiscated booty? The "giant" had to be Joker." She deduced.

"Correct."

"When did "Centurion" approach you?"

"Three days ago."

"How many people you can speak Japanese?"

"My classmates and my relatives."

"Couldn't this be a cruel joke by a classmate of yours?"

"I doubt it… The behavior and the accent don't match with any of them: our middle school is very strict and always aims to punish pranks and other things." Ferné replied.

"Hum. So maybe this guy has made his homework, for once."

"For once? How can you know that, Hibiki – san?"

"I was being ironic, Ferné."

"Is that so?"

"Are you Mr. Dense or what?" She looked annoyed.

"Eh… But… I was trying to be polite." He argued back.

"Whatever. Ya sound like a politician apprentice."

"A politician apprentice…?" He looked baffled.

"I was kidding. By the way… Did _you_ oblige your cousins to wear like that or do they come from a rural village which is very conservative and has a monastery?" She switched topics.

"The later is the correct… I tried to tell them that it was rather absurd given the current age but they would uphold to what they had been taught by their mother and grandmother… They'll only let me see their faces because I'm from the family." He sighed.

"I knew it. By the way… What's that symbol on the book which was on your car, too?"

"The "Hand of Wisdom", you mean? It's an ancient glyph by an Asian civilization: it means to represent that all which you witness, read and contemplate is within the grasp of one's hands…"

"Hand of Wisdom, huh… Who used that?"

"The book didn't say. It was interpreted from some ancient documents left behind in a crypt somewhere close to Mongolia…" He admitted as he scratched the back of his head.

"Ah. So that's how it is. I hope you aren't fond of stupid and pointless provocations."

"Provocations?" He asked.

"You don't know the word? I mean… I hope you won't try to anger me in purpose."

"Of course not, Hibiki – san…"

"Good. Then we're settled." She folded her arms.

"I do hope this doesn't have to last long…" Ferné muttered in French while sounding somewhat nervous.

"Hmmm?" Misora looked suspicious.

"Ah! Eh… I mean… Surely this will be over soon!" He translated.

"That "Centurion" better hope so before I get Harp back. And then I'll make him "become one with the wall"… The Great Wall of Choina." She formed a smug smile.

"B-become one with the wall…!" Ferné turned pale.

"Yeah. And remember: any funny acts by your or your cousins and I invite you to kiss the floor." She warned.

"U-understood…"

"I suppose you at least set up something to be seen through that "Real Wave" screen, right, Ferné?"

"C-correct… I can pick up Japanese TV channels and programs… But let us wait until we're done with the lunch." He admitted.

"Fair enough. Consider yourself warned." She pointed her right hand's middle finger at his neck.

Ferné nervously nodded in understanding while gulping: she then hummed a tune and kept on inspecting the room.

_Hibiki – san is a somewhat… out of common… person. I better watch my words and actions if I don't want to end up in a bad position… But she is right, after all. I still don't know who "Lord Centurion" is and if they just want to use her as bait to lure the Japan Satella Police into a trap. I hope I'll make it alive through this… And I really should tell Marie and Sophie that it's bad manners to overhear. Rural people always have this tendency to love gossip and rumors…_

Misora merely kept on humming a tune while Ferné was starting to bite his fingernails out of pure nervousness…

20:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oi! Subaru! Oi! Listen!"

"What now… I'm depressed."

"This is important! Check your mail!"

"Mail…? Huh…? What! T-this is…!"

Subaru had been laying his head on his desktop and looked depressed when War Rock began to call out for his attention: he picked his Hunter – VG and gasped when he read the contents of a new mail.

"FROM: NEED NOT TO KNOW

TO: HOSHIKAWA SUBARU

SUBJECT: RANSOM

TEXT: WE HAVE HIBIKI MISORA IN OUR HANDS. IF YOU WANT HER TO LIVE, YOU SHALL DELIVER US TEN MILLION CREDITS. THE DEAL WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE NÔTRE – DAME DE LA MER ABBEY IN NORMANDY, FRANCE. THE DATE OF THE DEAL IS TOMORROW, SATURDAY OCTOBER THE 20TH, AT TEN O'CLOCK PM [PARIS TIME]. IF YOU TRY TO BRING THE SATELLA POLICE INTO THE PICTURE, SHE PERISHES IN AN AGONIZING RITUAL TO OFFER HER PLEBEIAN BLOOD TO THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE.

SIGNED: THE HAND OF WISDOM

END OF MESSAGE."

"… By all the…! A threatening letter…! Ransom…!" Subaru cursed upon reading it.

"What do we do?"

"Tell the Satella Police AND Boss. We need to set up an ambush and apprehend them so that we can retrieve Misora – chan in one piece! Let's go, Rock! To the Satella Police HQ we go!" Subaru looked resolute and ready by now.

"Oh yeah! Let's go!"

19:23 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Hmpf. As I thought. You lowlifes fell for the bait. Whatever… You lowlifes' blood will eventually be offered to the High One, the Bloodthirsty God of Essence… My secondary scheme's preparations are underway and once I seize _that asset_ then I can finish implementing it. No… It shall not be a cowardly retreat and abandonment… It will be the creation of a new opportunity to restore the _lost legacy_…"

An unidentified figure wearing a black cloak around the body plus a metallic European armor's helmet which hid the neck and head completely was standing in the midst of a largely unlit concrete room and looking at some information being displayed by a "Real Wave" screen floating in the air.

"… No – one to get in the way there… Or so I believe. But at the very least their power will be nothing compared to power I hold, the "Ultimate Power" our tribe brought forth… What bothersome foolish humans… Did they really think I would have stepped into the battlefield without a strategy or plan? You foolish humans…"

The man laughed in an icy tone of voice before bringing up an image of Rock Man which had been edited to make it look like a sword had been driven through him and his body had been stuck into the wall.

"Hah! I would love to see that. A fallen fake hero… What "hero"? There was never any! Just weakling life-forms merging with even weaker life-forms, garbage merging with garbage and giving way to further garbage as well! Had it not been for those "abilities" you were "fortunate" enough to find you would have never defeated Andromeda and died back then yet it makes me rejoice that you lowlife actually brought ruin to those fools and their repulsive devices…"

The man laughed again and switched the image for a mass of text which he read while still laughing.

"Let there be rivers and oceans of blood! The High One commands it!"

He exploded into cold and triumphal laughter…


	4. Chapter 4: Nôtre  dame de la mer

**Chapter**** 4: **_**Nôtre – dame de la mer**_

21:55 PM (Normandy Time), Saturday October the 16th…

"… This is the place!"

"Futaba's ghost gotta be there…"

"Sir Omega, sir… That doesn't have any logic, sir."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. There goes Brad Shad!"

"Blood Shadow, War Rock!"

"So! Stigma Man! Do us a favor and scare them into believing you're Satan's nephew."

"My name is Sigma, Sir Omega, and I am not Satan's nephew!"

"By all the…"

"They are impossible, Shidou. You knew it."

Subaru and Akatsuki were standing in the esplanade which had formed over the ages in front of the abbey building, built about 300 meters from the edge of some cliffs: the rumor of the waves hitting the cliffs along with the cries of seagulls could be heard.

"So, Subaru – kun! You ready?"

"Yeah, Blood Shadow."

"You know that you can call me "Blood" and we're at peace."

"And Brad Shad is gonna do it from behind?"

"War Rock! That was rude to him!"

"Yeah. It was vulgar, too."

Blood Shadow looked rather similar to Rock Man but with several design alternations to him: his main color of choice was red.

He sported black shades and a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet.

And that was because it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"Now, now… Let Sigma handle this."

Sigma guy was about two meters tall and was colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area and it seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which he was currently aiming at the floor in lazy manner.

"Uncle Omega will make them dance the Shiver Dance."

Omega struck as being over one meter and eighty tall.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed quite some amusement while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached until the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

"Omega. No trolling." Vadous commanded.

"Sure, _shachou_~! Now let's hide and play hide-and-seek with our beloved buccaneers!"

The group concealed in the bushes growing nearby and checked their clocks as if to make sure they were on time: a car soon came up the road and parked in front of the abbey before turning down the lights: two figures climbed down and headed for the trunk.

"Now!" Akatsuki whispered.

He and Subaru ran towards them in silence using the blackness as cover but being able to pinpoint the car thanks to its greenish color and the red drawing on it: they seized the figures and quickly threw them into the ground before opening the trunk and finding a large metallic cylinder which was beeping in a very low tone: both gasped and then were seized from behind by the figures which turned out to be robots in the shape of pike-men.

"Let go, you!" Both cursed.

"Grawl! Beast Swing!"

"Punishing Claws!"

"Run!"

Both ran away just as the car blew up and took the robots out as well while setting everything in a 50-meter-radius on fire: the group ran towards the abbey and stopped there to pant as they looked on at the burning car.

"By all the… A death trap!" Subaru cursed.

"Which means that… One: they tricked us. Or two: that they're really using this place as hideout… I read that it has vast underground tunnels and crypts so…" Omega muttered while turning serious.

"We won't miss anything by checking it out, so…" Akatsuki muttered.

"But let's be armed. You two should perform Denpa – Henkan and be ready to fight whatever is inside." Blood Shadow warned.

"Let them come! I'll smash them!" Sigma laughed.

"Denpa – Henkan!"

Subaru and Akatsuki became Rock Man and Acid Ace respectively while Omega slowly and purposely pushed one door inwards to let it creak in a loud manner: he giggled but the other four didn't find it funny.

"Lovely. Now you want to give everything away, Omega?" Vadous questioned over the radio.

"Ask Creak Man."

"Please…"

"Be glad we didn't bring Moon Ace along to sing the "Pater Nostrum" 100 times in a row." Omega laughed.

"Don't joke with that or you'll have a horde upon you who will want to make you go to court." Vadous warned.

"Sure, _shachou_~!"

The group crossed the main wing and found a cavity behind the main altar missing the door and revealing a set of spiral stairways going downwards: some electrical torches had been placed there to provide some illumination but they'd been switched from yellow to a tint of purple as if to make it creepier.

"Last one buys ice-cream!" Omega challenged.

He ran down the stairs and the other four grumbled: War Rock was the only one who found it funny given his chuckle but they walked down the stairs into a room having a total of six stairways going even deeper (including the one they'd used to enter): Omega was pepping into them.

"Okay. Contact with the surface is lost already. We're just 20 meters above sea-level and the entry was 28 meters above sea level. If they are as deep as the first stairway, then what's waiting for us down there is 12 meters above sea level. But given global heating and such the seal level was surely lower when this was firstly built." Omega explained.

"So we don't have to fear about these corridors flooding with the tide change." Acid Ace summarized.

"Yessir. Now: pick one and let's meet here in 1 hour's time from now if it turns out this place hasn't been used ever since the year 666 AD when Satan came forth from Hell and unleashed his Demon Tribe minions into the abbey." Omega laughed.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Good, good!" War Rock joked.

"… Good. I approve. 1 hour. Find anything hostile which wants to kill you, then… Beat it down." Acid Ace commanded.

"Roger."

They split and Rock Man picked the 2nd left stairway which he walked down and ended up in a corridor heading inwards.

"Hmmm… I don't want to get lost if there are other stairs climbing up so let's mark this one."

He formed a spray can and wrote something on the ground:

"TO THE FIRST BASEMENT"

He then painted an arrow which ran across the floor until the entrance of the stairs as if to emphasize the message.

"Phew. I like this better. Alright. Let's go."

A mechanical buzz-like sound rang out along with metallic footsteps so he drew a Mad Vulcan X and looked towards the unlit portion of the corridor right ahead of him.

"Who…?"

"… UNIT BEHEADER B – 001… STATUS: ONLINE. ORDERS: BEHEAD ANY INTRUDERS."

A black robot with a red "eye" on the chest and being around a meter and eighty tall walked into the light: its head consisted of black shades and a kind of fin popping out of the forehead.

The robot carried a gigantic double-sided axe on its hands as its weapon: it looked real enough and totally menacing.

"Another robot!"

"BEHEAD INTRUDERS."

The robot jumped in the air and swung the axe horizontally: Rock Man ducked just in time, skidded across the ground to pass under the robot, and delivered a kick to its back, making it meet the ground face first but the opponent rose back almost immediately.

"THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE DEMANDS TO HAVE BLOOD. UNIT B – 001 WILL DELIVER IT."

The robot dashed towards Rock Man and raised its arms along with the axe.

"Chance! Eat Mad Vulcan X!"

Rock Man shot towards the "eye" thing in the chest which began to frizzle and spark so the robot stopped and dropped the heavy axe into the ground before starting to move around in an erratic way: the "eye" then exploded and the robot fell with its back on the ground, limp and smoke coming out of the chest area.

"There's something here if they bothered to put this guy here as sentinel."

"Futaba's cousin is the ruler of this world!"

"Stop making up this silly stuff. Be an Eastern."

"If we go east then we'll meet East Man!"

"Sure, sure." Rock Man sounded skeptical.

"And if we go nowhere at all then I'm gonna check out the size of your stuff to tell Kiboayama!"

"If you invade my privacy then Boss is definitely gonna lock you in the HQ's server for being a pervert and trying to extortion me."

"Che! Only Omega recognizes my intelligence!"

22:04 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Lovely. Dust everywhere. Oi, Acid! Is there anything else apart from dust to pick up here?"

"The lights seemed to have been deliberately removed in some sections during the last 24 hours given heat imprints."

"So they set this up on a rush or that of the lights was a last-minute decision?"

"I'd rather go with the later."

Acid Ace was talking with Acid as he made his way through the area and ended up spotting that some of the lights were missing the bulbs: he checked one and used a flashlight to try to see in detail.

"There doesn't seem to be any fingerprints left but there is a heat imprint… Curious." He muttered.

"UNIT LANCER L– 001 WILL DESTROY ANY PLEBEIANS ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE."

"Huh? Who the heck?"

Acid Ace whipped around to meet up with a robot similar to the one Rock Man had beaten but the differences being that the red "eye" device was set in the middle of the face and that the weapon as a large lance instead of the axe thing.

"Huff! I don't have time to deal with pieces of junk. Here, a present. Bye-bye! Wing Blade~!"

"Shidou… Putting a bomb on the chest cavity and then running off…"

"Is effective as you just heard how the thing blew up!"

Acid Ace was running off and looked over his right shoulder at the smoking remains of the robot while forming a gin: Acid sighed in defeat while he shrugged.

_That was just a bit of heating up! The real stuff begins NOW!_

22:08 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Pom, pom, porom! I'm going to patent the Kiboyama – Bertie~ - Futaba triangle! And this time _shachou_ won't shoot it down 'cause he can't hear me~! I'm a genius, yessir! Bring it on, Robocop wannabes! Show your ugly steeled hides 'round this revolving tunnel of nightmare~! Uncle Omega came to fire ya~!"

Omega was laughing and joking aloud as he calmly made his way down another corridor while having a broad grin on his face

"UNIT SWORDSMAN S – 001 HAS BEEN ENGAGED. PRIMARY PROGRAMMING ORDERS: DESTROY ANY INTRUDERS TO BRING THEIR BLOOD TO THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE."

"Coming!"

A robot carrying a sword the edges of which had been fitted with chain saw teeth came into sight and brandished it as if trying to look menacing: Omega reached for the compartment built over his right hip and took out a white object which became a sword's hilt: a green-colored pyramid of energy formed on it and began to hum.

"So! Where do I begin? Let's play "Cincinnati Butcher" and butch this guy up! Wait. This is a T – Rating, right? And it's a robot which runs on a pirate copy of a miniature nuclear fusion core… It can't bleed and who cares about cutting down a robot when they cut down trees? Yo! You Robocop wannabe~! Come~! I'll make mincemeat of ya~!"

The robot ran forward while seemingly trying to drive his sword into Omega but he dashed past him in a blur while forming "afterimages" behind him: he cut the space with the sword while drawing a curve and stopped one or two meters deeper in while still holding his saber out and looking over his right shoulder: the robot's upper torso was split in half followed by a white explosion of raw plasma: Omega turned off the weapon and spun it inside of his right hand.

"Too easy~! Is this all they can come up with? Then let's go tell them that the top-class butcher came to fire 'em!"

22:11 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I'll end up catching Brad Shad doing something with Subaru: they'll both turn red from the shame! Huh? Wait. Brad Shad's an android like me, so… Aw. Man. Obviously… Boss didn't bother to recreate "that" because it made no sense… But that doesn't stop them from trying to play "soft"… Mwah, hah, hah, hah… Huh? What the heck's that?"

Sigma had been muttering things aloud when he stumbled upon what looked like a crossroad-like room with a dome-shaped ceiling: something was placed on the middle of it which looked like a black metallic spheroid about two and a halt meters tall.

"UNIT Y – 001 HAS BEEN ENGAGED… UNIT Y – 001'S PROGRAMMING ORDERS: RIP INTRUDERS SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY TO SOOTHE THE THIRST OF THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE."

Four legs with five claws each came out from holes on the spheroid and it then stood up: an "eye" was placed on the upper half and a fin emerged from the top: six straight lines radiated from it and it now was about three meters tall.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Bring it on, rusted metal antiquity."

The robot used three of the legs to remain on foot and then drove the other three towards Sigma but he jumped into the air and landed atop the thing thus distracting it.

"ENEMY PRESENCE… NOT DETECTABLE…"

"Over here! You twerp! Take this! Demon Laser! Demon Rings! Sigma Sword! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

Sigma produced two twin lasers colored red from his eyes which set the joints on fire joined by thin bluish rings frizzling with electricity which coupled into the joins: the robot collapsed into the ground and Sigma then drove the sword into the head thus destroying it.

"Too easy ~! Let's go plot the next trap I'll spring into Brad Shad!"

22:15 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Jeez. This place is spooky. Not like I'm afraid of unlit places: I mean, I have a mental age of 13 and who is afraid of such things at such an age, anyway? Jeez. I want to find something… Huh? A crossroad… And I'm feeling the hum of a hover engine. The ceiling…? What the heck is that up there?"

Blood Shadow had been mumbling aloud as he made his way through a corridor only to end up in another crossroad: he stopped near the entrance and looked upwards.

"UNIT Y – 002 IS ENGAGED. DISPOSE OF INTRUDERS TO OFFER THEIR BLOOD TO THE BLOODTHIRSTY GOD OF ESSENCE IN ORDER TO SOOTHE ITS THIRST."

A fifth robot descended from the ceiling: it had a spheroid shape and the design was quite similar to the robot Sigma had just faced.

The differences lay that it could hover above the ground using two hover engines on the right and left inferior corners of the body and that it possessed two "arms" popping out from holes on the sides.

Each one had three small holes along its length and ended in a small sphere with a black dot on it.

"Lovely. What can you do? Ugly." He taunted.

The robot began to shoot machinegun rounds but Blood Shadow was already leaping into the air while loading up energy on the shotgun's barrels: he placed it on the right shoulder.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The right shoulder was blown off and the robot tilted to the left due to the lack of balance with its body mass: Blood Shadow loaded the shotgun again and landed atop the head: he pressed both barrels into the top cover: he quickly leapt into the air past the robot as it dropped into the ground given the lack of control unit.

"Something's here or they wouldn't waste bucks on such crappy security!"

22:18 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Jeez. I've been walking this corridor for 20 minutes already. Doesn't it ever end? Huh? Whoa! A junction… All five corridors merge here! What's around here, then?"

"The crypt of Mr. Universe! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Hah, hah. Very funny."

Rock Man stepped out into a junction of the five corridors: there were two new corridors heading left and right plus two closed wooden doors in front of him one of which had a "skull and crossbones" sign as if indicating that something deadlier was hidden behind it.

"Hmmm… Let's check the skull door."

Rock Man opened it and found a very small stone: he then looked at the ground and recoiled upon seeing that there was a deep stone shaft built on it: some small pebbles fell off the rim and down the shaft: a soft sound of them hitting the water was carried upwards by the echo.

"Alright. So this is why it's signaled." He muttered.

He stepped out and closed the door: he checked the other room but there was nothing on it: the ground was quite solid and he didn't spot any hidden tricks.

"Good. Let's check the lateral corridors and…"

The noise of several sets of footsteps started to echo and increased in intensity from both corridors.

"… UNITS LANCER 002 TO 010 ARE ENGAGED AND ORDERED TO DESTROY ANY INTRUDER ON SIGHT."

"… UNITS SWORDSMAN 002 TO 010 ARE ENGAGED AND ORDERED TO TERMINATE ANY INTRUDER ON SIGHT."

"Oh! Crap! What do I do?" Rock Man gasped.

"Swap the door signs and leave the danger room slightly open! Move!"

Rock Man looked surprised for a moment but he did as War Rock suggested: he swapped the signs and hid on the safe room while having left the other room's door slightly ajar: he crouched in a corner and both remained silent: the footsteps came to a halt and some buzz sounds rang out.

"… DOOR HAS BEEN LEFT AJAR. CONCLUSION: INTRUDER IS THERE."

Rock Man and War Rock smiled as they began to hear some CHAP noises one after the other signaling the horde of about 16 robots falling into the water: he remained in that pose for another few minutes until silence was formed.

"Good thinking, Rock!"

"Meh! I wasn't in the mood to fight with weaklings."

"Huh? What's that…? A trapdoor… I see. The robots removed the build-up of dust and thus exposed it…"

Rock Man crouched next to a trapdoor and pulled it up: it made a loud squeaking noise but he ignored it as he began to walk down a set of stone stairs: the corridor now headed seawards.

"We must be about 6 meters above sea level… Let's head on forward and hope we don't get _below_ sea level… There could be a trap involving flooding, even." He muttered.

"But we were able to dive into the lake back when the Brachio Wave incident, right? Sure: we needed a device to help us navigate but when in Denpa – Henkan your body is like changed to something else, to a program, ya know." War Rock brought up.

"You have a point." Rock Man admitted.

"I'm Point Man!"

"Not again… Be serious!"

"Serious Man!"

"Alright! Have it your way!"

Rock Man had been distracted discussing with War Rock and ended up hitting two closed wooden doors in front of him having a pull ring each one: he rubbed his nose and forehead while groaning.

"Tell me there's a door!" He complained.

"Blame Door Man."

"By all the… Let's go in and end this façade."

Rock Man pulled one of the doors open and looked inside: he felt his skin turn white all of a sudden and War Rock shut up as well.

"W-what… is this place?" Rock Man managed to mutter.

The room was square in shape and quite wide: a central corridor led towards an altar placed on the far end of it.

The far wall had a drawing of the Grim Reaper standing in a wood somewhere and holding a blood-smeared scythe.

The walls at the left and right were painted scenes of ghosts roaming across villages and obviously bringing upon fear and terror.

Some gravestones with covers displaying strange characters on them had been placed at left and right of the main altar and some dried blood stains were present in the ground around the altar.

A stained and rugged cloak was covering it and there was something below it as indicated by the bulky form: one grave placed SE of the altar was open and empty.

"Alright. It'd seem some sect built this." Rock Man muttered.

"Wasn't that robot saying something about blood and something-god-of-whatever?" War Rock brought up.

"Yeah. But I thought it was an _anime_ rip-off."

"Well. Anyone would've, I'd say… Why don't we check what's hidden there? Maybe there's a hint?"

"If it's a corpse… Well. I'll try not to vomit." Rock Man muttered.

"Come on! You're a man! Bear with it!"

Rock Man gulped and slowly approached the altar: he grabbed the cloak and pulled it off to reveal an unconscious Misora chained to the altar by the wrists and ankles: she was fully dressed but her skin was pale.

"Misora – chan…! Why does she look so pale…? Guess it must feel too cold down here… Anyway! Let's rescue her and be on our way out."

"Heh, heh, heh. Prize!"

He quickly broke the restrains and Misora suddenly opened her eyes the irises of which had turned blood red: Rock Man gasped and stepped back, surprised.

"… Blood. Sacrifice. Ritual. High One. Descent. End of the world. The world's resetting. New world." She muttered as if chanting.

"W-what?" Rock Man asked.

She suddenly picked a knife which had been hidden under her right leg and had no trouble jumping down into the ground and heading for Rock Man while carrying the knife on her right hand.

"Misora – chan! What happened? Snap out of it! Wake up!"

"The one to wake up is you, false prophet. You have brought false hope to the weak ones. You have defied the worldly laws. The laws say that when the High One descends a cycle will end and a new cycle shall begin. All corrupted ones shall be burn out in an agonizing manner as punishment for their sins and only the Royal Ones and Believers will be saved. And then the cycle will repeat until the day when the Four Heavenly Kings unite and start their final battle with the High One." She chanted: a foreign accent stood out in the chant oddly enough.

"I d-don't know what you mean!"

"Your blood shall be offered to the High One and then it shall be your skin, muscle and bones. You shall slowly and painfully die inside of that grave."

"Sorry. I don't agree with that _gore_ _scenario_. Bertie! Duck! Plasma Shot!"

"Wha!"

Rock Man ducked out of instinct as a ball of plasma travelled across the air and hit the face of "Misora" thus melting it and revealing a robotic skull beneath it: something jumped across the air in a blur and Omega drove his sword into the upper torso thus halting the robot and making its eyes shut down: it let go of the knife and collapsed face-down on the ground: Rock Man was now seating into the ground and looked shell-shocked, for once: Omega looked nervous and tapped his right shoulder.

"Eh… Bertie? Are you alright? Say something!"

"… Huh…! Misora – chan… is dead… dead… they killed her… in front of my eyes… her face melted… her face… her face…" He weakly muttered.

"Oi! War Rock! Hit him or something!"

"Can't be helped…"

War Rock materialized and began to "knock" on the helmet's forehead but Rock Man didn't seem to react.

"Oi! Subaru! Daigo is calling for ya!"

"Dad? I'm going, Dad… Huh? Where am I?"

Rock Man began to stand up and distractedly walk out before stopping and looking around in a confused manner.

"Look, Bertie. Are you alright?" Omega asked as he landed both hands atop his shoulders and looked at him.

"Omega – san? Eh… W-what happened, sir?"

"That we got fooled again. The car was one thing. And now they bothered to come up with an assassin robot. I'm sure the reason there were so many crossroads in the tunnels we picked was to stall for time so that you would get here first and fall for the trap. But I happen to be able to dash at high speeds and thus I caught up with you."

"A robot…! A robot…! T-they tricked me with… a robot!" Rock Man began to sound like he was building anger up.

"Snap out of it!" Omega ordered.

"Ah! R-roger, sir!"

"Look. I know it wasn't a nice thing. But it's over. Hibiki was never here and the mail was bait to lure us into a trap."

"A trap…!" Rock Man hissed.

"We need to go back and rest. Heck. It's already 4 AM in Japan. But given how it's still the weekend then there shouldn't be a problem if you wake up late in the morning. But we're bringing that thing along and dissecting it to try to find out who could've built it and if they based the design out of us. Given how the only thing I did was force a shut-down then the memory files should be intact." Omega listed.

"Sorry, I'm late. What's with the decoration?" Acid Ace asked as he stepped inside and looked around.

"Your evil cousin did it!" Sigma laughed.

"Be serious." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"There'll be a debriefing later on. Right now the point is: Hibiki wasn't here and this was a trap to kill Rock Man. But it isn't Hyde, obviously enough. Someone here is fond of _gore scenarios_ involving apocalypses and all the classical doom stuff. Oh. Blood… Accompany Rock Man: he's had a bad experience and he doesn't look too well so try to check on him along the way. Try to help him if he loses balance or feels about to throw out from the fright…" Omega summed up.

"Roger. Let's go, Rock Man."

"Y-yeah… I'm tired. But who could've set up something so cruel? It has to be a heartless person…!" Rock Man muttered.

"Sure…"

None of them noticed a floating Voltic Eye Virus apparently spying on them high in the ceiling.

_Hah, hah, hah… Let despair fill you lowlifes!_


	5. Chapter 5: Enigma and discovery

**Chapter 5: Enigma and discovery**

07:44 AM (Normandy Time), Sunday October the 17th…

"… Report."

"R-roger, sir. Eh… Nothing odd has happened and no suspicious people have come close to the manor."

"Fine."

"W-what should I do, sir?"

"Keep it like that."

"R-roger, sir."

"Stop speaking like that."

"I apologize, I was nervous, sir…"

"Hmpf. So I place fear into you?"

Ferné was standing in the middle of a small wine cellar and talking with the man wearing the armored helmet using the Hunter – VG: the man sounded dull at first but then began to sound interested.

"You do, sir." He confessed.

"Hmpf. Fine… Any problems with the hostage?"

"No, sir. I am keeping my distance but there have been no problems insofar. I made sure to lock all possible exit routes as well. So there's no danger of the hostage escaping either, sir…" Ferné listed.

"Good. If I bothered to use you is because you looked intelligent. Do not disappoint me, Ferné. Or blood will flow across that manor until nothing is left alive…" He threatened.

"R-roger, my lord!"

"Over."

"Phew."

"That wasn't Hyde, yeah."

"See? I am under extortion!"

"Yeah, I can see that. I don't think he's kidding."

Misora had walked into the cellar and didn't look surprised as she began to talk with Ferné over the contents of the call.

"Yet, that voice… The foreign accent… I'm sure I've heard it somewhere before but I can't place where or when." She muttered.

"So maybe you knew him?" Ferné asked.

"It's a possibility. I'm off to the living room. I'll tune in some random _anime_ and hope it's half-decent." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Do as you like, Hibiki – san. The breakfast will soon be ready." He gallantly invited.

"Good. By the way, Ferné… You wouldn't mind if I turned on the fireplace, right? The living room was pretty cold." She brought up.

"Of course not… Go on ahead."

Misora headed upstairs and entered the living room: she picked one of the armchairs and brought it closer to the fireplace before she turned it on and then sat down on the armchair while extending her hands towards the fireplace: she then turned on the screen and began to shuffle through it at random.

_Wait a minute… Fireplace…! The chimney MUST climb up and end up on the outside! I can try "linking" my chip implant with Dr. Lartes' computer onboard the HQ! It'd be like a phone call! Let's try it!_

She crouched next to the fireplace and looked up the chimney to see a blue spot at the very top.

_Hello? Dr. Lartes? _

_Misora! Is that you?_ A "voice" replied.

_Yeah. I'm alright._

_Thank goodness!_

_I'm somewhere in Normandy and the one who abducted me is a young man, Alexander Ferné._

_We'd just figured it out: Queen Tia told us about the "Book of Glyphs" and Mr. Van der Miar also added what had happened to it. Some conversation with Chief Inspector Ferné's old colleagues and lawyers revealed that it should've been passed down to the local library of Cherbourg but it got stolen shortly after it got there. And we began to suspect of Ferné. The problem is that he'd vanished off the radar._

_But Ferné isn't the true culprit at work. He's innocent. I just witnessed him having an exchange over a modified Hunter – VG with a man named "Centurion" who hears a medieval armor helmet. He's under extortion: that "Centurion" must be the true culprit at work._

_No wonder… Yesterday they set up trap after trap in an old abbey having a vast network of underground tunnels and there was a robot imitator of you which tried to kill Subaru._

_WHAT?_

_Yeah. Correct. Another proof that this "Centurion" guy is dangerous… By the way… How are you managing to uplink with me?_

_The fireplace… This manor seems to have been built to have a duplicate ground floor on the basement. It has two basement floors. Can you triangulate into my location?_

_I'm on it… Good. Five point six kilometers south-south-west of Cherbourg, in the west coast of Normandy… I'm going to check property registers around the area to find out the exact address. _

_Good! Then I leave the rest up to you. Tell Subaru – kun I believe on him: I don't want to look suspicious if Ferné and his cousins come in and catch me red-handed._

_Roger. We'll try to come as soon as possible._

_Thanks!_

08:33 AM (Normandy Time)…

"… Hum! A ghost district… Queen Tia must've scared everyone with her "royal diet of doom"…"

"Shidou… Let's not bring up that again."

"What a panorama… It looks like no – one's been here for a long time and it's fallen into decay…"

"And they call this place Evreux? Weird name!"

"Be considerate, Rock!"

"Let's keep on. If the French police told us they believed their anonymous caller to be serious when he reported "mysterious sightings" here then we'll surely find something."

Subaru, War Rock, Akatsuki, Acid and Blood Shadow were walking down a street within a district of largely abandoned and sealed up houses in a totally decadent status: War Rock was joking the whole time but no one found it funny.

"Look! That house…" Blood Shadow gasped.

They looked at the right to find a totally burn out house: the windows were broken and part of the façade's paint had jumped off thus revealing plain brick beneath it: the threshold didn't have any door and there were charred parts scattered around the walls.

"Arson?" Akatsuki wondered.

"Let's check it out." Subaru suggested.

"The Arson Squad is on the move!" War Rock joked.

"Ahem ahem. We are not the Arson Squad. We are the "Raid Troop", War Rock. Remember it." Acid dully reminded him.

"Did ya say something, Claw Man? My ears are ringing! Ya gotta be talking about your doom."

"Wrong."

"Shut up, Rock."

"Che."

The group stepped inside of the hall: it was all burnt out and blackened plus filled with sooth: the others rooms were in the same state yet the stair to the first floor had been demolished somehow: one room contained a set of stairs leading to the basement.

"Bingo! Cave Man is down there!" War Rock laughed.

"Stop saying nonsense. Move it."

They climbed down the stairs and stepped into another chamber missing the door: this chamber was in a worse condition than all of the other ones given how almost all of the walls' paint had jumped off thus revealing the plain bricks beneath them: a charred circle could be spotted in the middle of the room along with an identical on the ceiling: there also were several blackish patters drawn upon the ground which seemed to indicate the flames' trails.

"Lovely." Akatsuki sarcastically muttered.

"Ox was here!" War Rock laughed.

"Ox doesn't set fire to things 'cause he likes to."

"Hmmm… Some kind of cylinder was here, on the middle… And there are some molten metal traces around two stops plus the imprints of wires so maybe there was some kind of device here…" Blood Shadow analyzed by crouching next to the imprints.

"Hey! Look there." Akatsuki gasped.

They looked at the farthest wall to see the remains of a pyramidal metallic platform which had largely melted down yet what got their attention was a blackened "Hand of Wisdom" glyph drawn on the wall plus the words "GLORY TO HIGH COMMAND" written below in _katakana_ using red oil-based spray paint.

"High Command…? Then… That "Centurion" is not the real culprit?"

"Hard to say at this point… It could be but it could be not. That painting could be a fake hint. Yet there had to be something they didn't want anyone else to find or else they wouldn't have bothered to set the whole thing on fire using gasoline or whatever they used for the job. Let's move out." Blood Shadow shrugged.

"Roger."

"Oho. Before that… Last one buys "Rotten Candy"! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

War Rock shot out of the room while the other four rolled their eyes and didn't look amused in the very least: they climbed up to ground level and came out without noticing a silhouette watching them from the 1st floor's windows.

_I dunno what happened 'ere too but one thing's clear… These guys take this whole affair seriously… Master did well on sending me to scout: I am proving my worth! Wander in despair and fear! Destruction! Blood! Bloody festival… Half-kill… Overkill… Mwah, hah, hah! Those are what fuel my person! If you thought Master is no big deal, then… Think again, you lowlifes! Master has some intriguing contacts… And with their help, this nation will soon be brought down to its knees… I can picture it: Master giving me permission to exert all of my arts… Mwah, hah, hah! Fool around while you can… Before this year is over your nation will be subjugated by Master's "connections"!_

"… What's wrong, Subaru?"

"Eh… Nothing, Akatsuki – san. I just had the feeling someone was spying on us…" Subaru muttered.

"Acid."

"Roger. Enemy Search!"

Acid emitted a radar pulse but there was no echo so he shrugged and Akatsuki did the same thing.

"We're overreacting. Let's move out."

15:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Vadous – san? Eh… I hope I am not interrupting you, sir, but I dug out some information which may seem to be useful, sir…"

"Is that so? Then come. You're welcome anytime, Kiboyama."

"T-thank you very much, sir."

Kiboyama had stepped into a room somewhere: the floor of this room consisted of a narrow steel corridor wide enough for one person to stand which was shaped like two trapezes connecting each other by a line: the ground was lowered and covered in a grid – like metal on the spaces between each trapeze and to left and right of the corridor: another room could be seen expanding downwards below this one through the metallic grid's openings.

_The Central Hub… It still impresses me!_

There was a small circle which marked the start of a rail crossing across the room until the other end: he followed it with his sight and ended up spotting a black metallic armchair with the Alphabet letter "V" painted behind it on purple color placed at the end of the rail and giving Gino the back.

_Vadous – san's command armchair…! It looks imposing if you want my opinion. The scale of this place still leave me baffled a month after I started living here…_

The other end of the room contained a console which was filled with several LEDs, indicators, switches, levers and buttons plus a built-in keyboard and mouse pad: three gigantic and interconnected LCD screens had been affixed to the wall to be above it.

_And he can monitor the whole HQ from here… _

The room's walls had several metallic stripes built into it which contained round LED lights: the centermost point of the room had a hatch built into the ceiling which was currently closed.

_The emergency hatch_…

"Come, come."

"Eh… Roger, sir."

Kiboyama walked over the armchair which turned around thus revealing the person sitting in there.

"Good afternoon, sir."

"So? What have you found out?"

The occupant of the armchair was a man on his mid-twenties and wearing body armor made of an unknown grayish compound material: some purple patterns were drawn around it.

His eyes' irises were red and his hair was colored jet-black yet it was neatly combed and arranged: there wasn't the slightest trace of facial hair on him.

He sported a ragged, torn and worn out purple cape attached to the back of his shoulders which spread all the way to the ground but had some centimeters' margin of space.

He lastly carried two elaborated sword sheaths attached to the thick central belt colored black running around his waist.

"It's about those robots Subaru – kun and the others had to face off against… They kept on mentioning a "bloodthirsty God of Essence" if I'm not mistaken… So I looked it up and it turns out that archaeological investigations in central Asia uncovered a sacrificial chamber with engravings on an ancient language… Some natives helped them decipher them and those engravings talked about that same "bloodthirsty God of Essence" also referred as "High One"…" Kiboyama explained.

"Hum. That sounds familiar. But I can't place it where I've heard it before… I guess it'll eventually come out. I have bad memory for small things which I have only listened once or twice." Vadous muttered.

"But it'd seem that this civilization was invaded by Mu and their royal bloodline was destroyed, too. Some remains of it are left nowadays yet I couldn't find their name…" Kiboyama added.

"Hmmm…"

"Sorry for the interruption, Boss… I found Ferné's address!"

"Good job, Lartes!"

Lartes' age seemed to be around his mid-twenties and he stood at close to a meter and eighty tall: his jet black hair had a style slightly reminiscent of Subaru's and his eyes' irises were brown in coloring: he also sported reading glasses.

He wore a doctor's coat over a brownish sweater and brown pants plus black shoes.

He carried a Hunter – VG on his right hand.

"_Châteaux de Ville-Sante_. Its ownership is registered under the alias of "Monded Tendés". It's quite isolated: thus making it a good hideout."

"Good. I have a plan. You'll go there and pass as a Government inspector. Simply say you want to double-check the ownership of the _châteaux_ and have a look at the defenses by the way. Then come back and we'll discuss a method of extraction for Hibiki." Vadous told him with a smile.

"Roger. Ah! Gino… If you need any help then don't doubt to come to visit me." Dr. Lartes smiled at him.

"Thank you very much."

"So… I know the person who could know something about this. Solo of Mu… He's our man." Vadous smiled.

"Solo…? Oh! True. He came with us to the cinema when that Phantom Black man showed up to try to rewrite the film…"

"If I send Subaru to speak with him since he's the only one who can get a reply outta him. Good work, Kiboyama."

"T-thank you very much, Boss."

"You can head back. I'll contact Subaru."

"Roger."

"Alright. Let's contact Subaru… Black Ace! Open a line with Hoshikawa Subaru ASAP!"

"Roger."

"Yo! Bossing bossy of bosses! What's up?"

"Jeez! Rock! Be nice to Boss!"

Subaru and War Rock appeared on the middle LCD screen: Rock began joking and Subaru didn't find it funny.

"Can you do me a favor?" Vadous asked him.

"Please ask."

"Well. Locate Solo and ask him about what was the name of that civilization which revered a "bloodthirsty God of essence" also named "High One"… You know, just like those robots said. Kiboyama did some research and he found out there was such a civilization. And I'm sure Solo must know something about that." Vadous detailed.

"Hmmm… That rings a bell somewhere…" Subaru frowned.

"A rusted bell?" War Rock laughed.

"Jeez. Be quiet already. Or do I tell him my list of reasons why you deserve to be stored in the server?" Subaru growled.

"Che."

"Anyway… Please leave it to me, Boss. I'll get the information."

"Good. We'll prepare Hibiki's rescue in the meanwhile. I'll keep you informed of the proceedings." Vadous smiled at him.

"Roger."

"Uncle Roger is gonna play hide-and-seek with ya~!" War Rock laughed.

"Stop making up non-existent people, Rock!" Subaru grumbled.

War Rock kept on laughing while Subaru and Vadous looked pretty annoyed at his silly behavior…


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue and intrigue

**Chapter 6: Rescue and intrigue**

16:09 PM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 17th…

"… Ru… da… ga… yu…!"

"Shut up."

"… Yu… ru… da… ga…!"

"I told you: shut up."

"… Ga… da… ru… yu…!"

"How many times do I have to say it? Shut up or I'll get mad."

Solo was sitting on the edge of a cliff and throwing pebbles towards the ocean out of pure boredom while Laplace kept on pleading for something yet it didn't amuse him in the very least.

"Ga… yu…"

"SHUT UP!" He roared.

Laplace shut up and muttered something under his breath which Solo didn't pay attention to.

"Che. I find it boring already. My "game" with Rock Man… But I don't want to go beyond what we'd agreed upon or else that Vadous man will unleash his anger into me. Jeez. Sometimes I feel like I act in a silly manner, really… Is this all there's to life? I need some thrill!"

"Then patent Thrill Man! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!"

"You shut up."

"Hmmm?"

Solo looked over his right shoulder to see Subaru and War Rock standing there: he formed a smug smile and stood up to face them.

"So! Hoshikawa. The bird flew out of the nest?"

"Yeah. I need something outta you."

"What's that?"

"Information."

"I gave you guys plenty last month."

"Yeah, I know. You want a battle as exchange for the effort we made you go through last month?" Subaru suggested.

"If it's a battle then I won't refuse it. Meet me at my usual place. I'll be waiting…" Solo looked amused.

"Waiting Man has descended!" War Rock laughed.

"Don't anger the guy." Subaru scolded.

"Denpa – Henkan!"

Solo transformed into Burai and quickly jumped into a nearby Wave Road to speed away followed by Laplace.

"Let's go, too. Denpa – Henkan! On Air!"

"Yessir! _Rock 'n roll_!"

Subaru and War Rock transformed into Rock Man and he ran up the Wave Road into the Bermuda Labyrinth.

"Excuse me! Are you Rock Man, sir?" A Denpa – kun asked.

"Eh… Yeah. That's me. What's up?" Rock Man confirmed.

"Someone wanted me to deliver a message to you, sir!"

"It isn't Boss… He'd use the radio… Let me have it."

"Roger, sir! Goodbye, sir!" The Denpa – kun smiled.

"Beware of Viruses!" Rock Man called out.

"Thank you, sir!"

"So? What does the message say?" War Rock asked.

"Huh? SENDER: NO NAME… Weird."

"Maybe it's a prank by Omega."

"Surely… Let's see… "When this is over then I'll be coming to slowly and painfully break you lowlife up… It'll be exquisite. I wanna hear your screams of agony and break your mask. Don't think this will end by rescuing your girlfriend and catching that "Centurion" jerk whoever that jerk is. Wait and see, Hoshikawa… The Ancient Assassin will feast upon your body… Mwah, hah, hah, hah!" … This doesn't look like a prank to me, I'd say." Rock Man muttered once he'd read it.

"The one who wrote this has gotta be a fan of ya who wants to play that game with ya… What was the name…? Something about two Alphabet letters and a weird symbol in the middle…?" War Rock grinned.

"Don't say it. We're not allowed to."

"Ah? Who says that?" War Rock asked with a smile.

"Mr. Universe. And this must be Hyde's newest idea of a threat mail so I don't give a cent for it." Rock Man shrugged.

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe it's Hikaru?"

"Hum. Could be. Maybe he's taken control of Tsukasa – kun and decided to try to scare me with a creepy mail. But I'm not worried about the guy because in the worst of the cases we can come up with a chip implant to put tabs on him." Rock Man muttered.

"_Meitantei_ War Rock – sama strikes back! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Oh. Come on. Let's go meet Burai already before he lashes out at is two for being late to the encounter." Rock Man grumbled.

"Sure, sure, Speedy Man."

Rock Man ignored him and made his way through the labyrinth until he found the square: Burai was rubbing the back of his head and he was groaning something.

"Burai? What happened?"

"Not sure…"

"Not sure?"

"I was waiting for you and checking my Hunter – VG's emails. I got one which said something about "dropping by to test my skills" and I thought it was Omega. But something suddenly hit me on the back of my head, I'm missing a piece of hair and they wrote the Alphabet letters "A" and "S" in my chest armor using some kind of sword weapon… Laplace got knocked out too and since no – one comes this deep then I have no witnesses to tell me what happened…" He groaned.

"Weird."

"I don't feel like battling with this headache… So what exactly do you wanna know today?" He muttered.

"Do you know a god named "bloodthirsty God of essence" or "High One" and who revered them?"

"You've forgotten, eh? The jerk from last month, that guy… His antecessors revered that thing. I know they had a name for it but it was a secret to the High Priest and the Monarch. The secret died back then and no – one has been able to find the name because it'd seem it was orally passed so that no – one would be allowed to know it outside of them. Yet it's not like they were like the Maia people or other bloody tribes… No, no… Those guys just offered the blood of criminals which had been sentenced to death…" Burai explained.

"Hum… Ah! Now it comes back to mind…! On'Setsu! The On'Setsu Kingdom…!" Rock Man realized.

"Yeah. So? Why did you wanna know?"

"Eh… You see… We went to Normandy and investigated an abbey's underground tunnels which ended up in a crypt of sorts. A robot shaped in the image of Harp Note tried to assassinate me while saying my blood would be given to that god. We firstly didn't mind it because it looked like a rip-off but another companion of mine did some research and found this out…" Rock Man explained.

"Hum. And who made that robot?"

"Well… There actually were several of them but simplistic in design: but our attempts to inspect them didn't yield any clues. Yet they were recently designed, as recently as three weeks ago…" Rock Man added.

"Strange. Why did you go to that abbey, anyway?"

"Because Harp Note has been abducted and I got a ransom mail which turned out to be bait for us to fall for…"

"Ah. Tell me where that place is. Maybe I'll find something hinting at who used it."

"True. Those gravestones had some glyphs written on them and maybe you can decode them…" Rock Man suggested.

"My point exactly. And give me Vadous' number as well just in case I need to relay some info but you're not available."

"I won't be because school resumes on Monday, so it's wiser to contact Boss with any info you figure out."

"And invite this guy to a "club", too!" War Rock whispered.

"I don't think that's a bright idea." Burai muttered.

"It isn't. Don't listen to this guy." Rock Man warned.

"Che! Always stealing the fun outta me…" War Rock played victim.

"That trick won't save you, Rock. Let's head back: we're about to carry out Misora – chan's rescue strategy."

"Nah! The boyfriend to the rescue of girlfriend strategy, I name it!"

"By all the… We're just friends! There's nothing else to it! You mustn't believe those magazines that wanna start headlines war to sell and cause a juicy ruckus!" Rock Man groaned.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Uncle Club will chase you~!"

"What silliness." Burai muttered with a hint of annoyance.

"Totally!" Rock Man grumbled.

21:15 PM (Normandy Time)…

_They will surely come now during the nighttime. I won't complain since Ferné and his cousins have always kept their distance from me yet I didn't like those two trying to sneak into the bathroom during my private time: what were they expecting? Obviously I complained and Ferné scolded them… Those two are weird._

Misora had sat down on her bedroom's chair and looked slightly annoyed as she seemingly remembered something.

"… Pst! Misora – chan?"

"Subaru – kun?" She gasped.

"Yeah. It's me. Confucius rice." He whispered from behind the door.

"It'll make you meet Confucius." She replied.

"Trendy Magazine…"

"…doesn't exist."

"Good! Both passwords OK. I'll open the door. And be silent, War Rock, or the strategy will be ruined."

"Ya never know, Subari~!" War Rock whispered.

There was a slight sound and the door opened to reveal Rock Man: he handed her the Hunter – VG and Harp appeared.

"Nice to see ya again, Misora! Now… Let's get outta here."

"I'll leave a little note from Boss…"

Rock Man took out a letter and left it atop the table while Misora formed a smile.

"Let's go, Harp! Denpa – Henkan! On Air!"

She became Harp Note and together they headed upstairs: they reached the 1st basement floor and Harp Note spotted how the living room's doors were open.

"Through the chimney." Rock Man whispered.

"Roger, _darling_." She teased.

"E~H?" He uttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Maybe those reporters weren't that much off the mark, then!" War Rock laughed.

"Oh. Shut up."

"Sorry. I just wanted to do a final check." She apologized.

"Alright. Let's go up."

Rock Man climbed using a rope hanging inside of the chimney shaft followed by Harp Note: they exited into the rooftop where a round purple gateway was already opened and shining.

"There: we'll go to the HQ and from there to home. I know I'll have lack of sleep by the morning but I'll overcome it somehow."

"Yeah. Say, did anyone notice my absence?"

"Urakata – san knows but he's kept the secret. Besides, given how almost everyone was out because it was the weekend…"

"Fair enough. Let's go back, _darling_."

"Please…" He groaned.

"What? It's fashionable in other TV shows!"

"Please drop it or Omega – san will use that to barrage at me with his silly pranks." He pleaded.

"Alright, alright… Let's go and beware of the rural girls."

"The rural girls…? Why?" Rock Man frowned.

"_A secret makes a girl, girl_." She quoted.

"Huh? I didn't get any of that!" Rock Man protested.

Harp Note giggled while Rock Man groaned in defeat….

21:49 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Hah. Rubbish machines. Out of my way!"

Burai sliced a pike-man robot in half and grinned before stepping into the crypt and looking around: he turned serious and began to examine the gravestones.

"These aren't Mu glyphs. But they're similar. Ah. Of course. On'Setsu glyphs, then… They must indicate who they sacrificed and when. I'm sure that the people who then erected the abbey used the remains of an earlier building as base. And I'd stake anything that they sealed up the entrance to the tunnels, too." He muttered.

"Ga…"

"Jeez. If you want to complain about something complain to Mr. Universe or that Moon Disaster guy." Burai grumbled.

"Da…"

"No. And that's an ultimatum. You won't touch my games. Go play with the ones in Spica Mall or wherever."

"Yu…"

"What persistence… What now? Huh? That the guy who knocked us down had a familiar signature? Define "familiar"!"

"… Da… Yu… Ga…"

"Similar to yours? Then it was that Phantom Black lowlife creeping on us to laugh at us. Whatever. I'll make sure to beat that guy to a pulp when I get the chance to do that." He cursed.

"… Yu…"

"What now?" He questioned.

Laplace signaled something glowing on the base of the altar so Burai fumed and walked over to it.

"Ga…"

"What! Mu Glyphs! And that thing over there…? A purple oil-based spray can…! Who writes Mu Glyphs with such a vulgar tool? Wait. Mu Glyphs, I said? But… No – one else apart from me and the few survivors of my tribe should know them. And I'm sure Rock Man would've told me if he'd seen them so they've been placed here after he left… It seems to be a message…" He muttered.

"Yu…"

"… "Burai of Mu, my tribe's enemy! This is a message I left behind for you lowlife. Know that you lowlifes underestimated our intelligence! You were so confident that you had won yet I had foreseen such an outcome! Tell this to those fools out there: I am - ALIVE! Very alive and ready to destroy you lowlifes with the "Ultimate Power" and the "Four Heavenly Kings" I hold! Centurion has spoken!" … Centurion, the jerk says? But who the hell wrote this?" He cursed after reading it.

"Da…"

"Wait a minute, you. Last month! That guy… That guy who was trying to reassemble the "Ultimate Power" of the On'Setsu Kingdom…! That guy who'd leeched out a Dealer agent…! That bloody "Ultimate Orb"…! It vanished and we never thought what became of it! We thought that it alone was powerless… What idiotic thinking! Even my antecessors were afraid of its power because they couldn't come close to destroy it and had to resort to splitting it into pieces!" He muttered as if he was connecting the clues.

"Ga!" Even Laplace sounded afraid.

"I gotta reach that Vadous guy: he might be able to figure out the rest and end up completing the picture…! Let's go, Laplace! I've got no further use for this place…! I now wanna be ten thousand kilometers away from here and never return. I'm not afraid, obviously enough! This place just reeks like it's a trap waiting to make mincemeat of me!"

"Yu!"

"Move out!"

21:58 PM (Normandy Time)…

"… Hah, hah, hah, hah… So! You have felt the terror, have you not, descendant of my tribe's enemies? It is futile to try to hide behind that mask: I can read your every emotion! What a weakling: always being defeated by that fake prophet! You fool have submitted yourself to the destiny of failure! And you had more than one chance to get rid of that fake prophet yet you botched them yourself because you would feel bored without being able to experience a battle… I laugh at such idiotic behavior! As I thought: you are still a bothersome mouse! No… A bothersome gnat! A bothersome brat… A bothersome twerp! Hah! These insults suit you lowlife!"

"Centurion" was standing in front of a largely completed machine which looked like a pyramidal platform having a metallic ring about two meters tall built over it plus rows of monitors attached to both sides of the main ring: he struck as being over a meter and eighty tall.

"But I will soon gain an ace-in-the-hole… It might beyond my style but if you want to triumph against the enemy, then study their tactics. And that man I will bring into the picture will no doubt be intrigued by my offer… To form part of an "Elite Unit"… And gain a power restricted to a selected few! Hah, hah, hah, hah…" He laughed.

He started to interact with a "Real Wave" screen and brought up what looked like imagery of an underground room somewhere containing a tall cylindrical object with two cone-shaped bases: the front half was made of blackened thick glass and the rear half was metallic: it was emitting a pale green glow and seemed to be the only source of light in the room.

"Hah, hah, hah… All is ready. I just need to seize that man, do the "trick" and then proceed… I have prepared everything in advance and not even Vadous can predict what I'm going to do… Hah, hah, hah… You lowlife will know what it means to be powerless…! And you false prophet will as well, Rock Man! Feel the fear creeping into your weak body and realize that you were intended to fail and expose your true nature as a false prophet!"

He began to laugh inside of the room while spreading his arms wide…


	7. Chapter 7: Realization

**Chapter 7: Realization**

11:04 AM (Japan Time), Monday October the 18th…

"… Fua~h… I knew it: the jet-lag and the lack of enough sleep showed up already… I've somehow managed to battle it and remained focused for the three first lessons of the day but now…"

"Why are ya the only one who gets the fun?"

"Gonta!"

"Yikes! _Iinchou_!"

"Do you think it was fun to battle a robot designed to fool you into believing it's your brainwashed friend? Or to be about to fall into an underground river? Or be cut to pieces by a swarm of 16 robots? Do you find them funny, Gonta?"

"Eh… No, no…"

"Yikes."

"And who set that whole thing up?"

"Some jerk named "Centurion" the identity of which we don't know as of yet…"

"It has to be a very cruel man to come up with such setups…"

"Yeah. Laugh at King. His setups were silly. The only deadly thing he had was Joker but he blew himself up so one trouble less."

"Never liked the jerk… Came out of nowhere and immediately got VIP condition as if he'd always been King's dog to yank at the chain… But the jerk's gone anyway and won't be coming back."

Subaru, Gonta, Luna, Kizamaro, Jack and Kiboyama were chatting inside of their classroom during break time: Subaru looked sleepy, Gonta firstly looked annoyed but then got scolded by Luna, Jack began to ramble and Kiboyama looked angry: Kizamaro gulped and was obviously afraid of the descriptions Subaru had provided.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Sabatus Malignus Repelignus has come to tell you guys you're fired!"

"War Rock. Stop corrupting names trying to make them sound "scientific"…" Subaru snapped at him.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Terrificus Fighterus Warus Rockus samus has come to blow everything up Sicilian Style!" War Rock laughed as he showed up in the middle of the classroom.

"Buro~! Stop meddling around." Ox grumbled.

"Jeez." Mode protested.

"I predict a 77% chance of Hell breaking loose…"

"No wonder." Kizamaro grimly muttered.

"Buro~! Wanna brawl, silly-head?" Ox challenged.

"Ya asked for it!"

"Go to the Bermuda Labyrinth so you won't bother anyone else! Don't start destroying the academy!" Subaru growled.

"Yeah, yeah! Go to the Be-something!" Gonta added.

"Bermuda Labyrinth, Gonta – kun!" Kizamaro corrected.

"That's an exotic dish?"

Luna stomped his right foot with violence and he yelped as he grabbed it and jumped around.

"THIS USELESS BALL OF FAT AND CALORIES…! BEHAVE YOURSELF! THIS IS AN ACADEMY! NOT A CHEAP 200Z RESTAURANT! WHEN I SAY STUDY THEN YOU STUDY AND SHUT THE TRAP UP! GOTCHA~?"

"R-roger, ma'am…!" He groaned.

"NOW SIT DOWN AND SHUT YOUR TRAP! OR ELSE MY ANGER WILL BE TERRIBLE TO WITNESSS! DO YA GET WHAT I MEAN? THEN SIT ON THAT CHAIR AND USE YOUR BRAINS!"

"Brainssss…!" War Rock laughed.

"Buro~! Last one buys a Rare Battle Card!" Ox taunted.

"Wha~t? Ya jerk! Wait there! I'll beat ya~!"

Both warped out of the classroom and they sighed in relief: Subaru stood up and headed outside into the corridor, and, from there, into the bathroom: he opened a faucet and soaked his hands in cold water before splashing his face and rubbing his eyes: he didn't notice "Centurion" standing behind him and holding a sword with a golden hilt and a pale green blade on the right hand.

"Die." He announced.

"Wha?"

The blade was driven through him and blood splashed the sink and ground but Subaru remained frozen.

"Hah. Fool. That'd be too simple. Farewell!"

Subaru blinked and looked around before glancing down at his chest: he didn't have any wound yet there was blood around the area: he crouched to check it out and realized that it "distorted" as he tried to check it out from close up.

"What the… Holograms? Projected image? And where have I heard that foreign accent before? Too simple, the jerk says… What could be worse than this?" He cursed.

"That voice…!" Kiboyama muttered as he came in.

"Gino – kun?"

"That voice…! That voice…! I know it…! From somewhere…! I think it was someone I knew, someone important…!" He muttered.

"Bloody heck. What's this, a foreshadowing _cliché_ or beating around the bush? Who's in charge of this?" Subaru sarcastically muttered.

"That'd be Uncle Sam! B-B-B-Bertie~!"

"Oh. Hell."

"Did you meet Hikaru and his maddening behavior, maybe~?" Omega asked over his Hunter – VG.

"The height didn't match, sir, and not even Hikaru would bother to come up with something like that. He'd rather beat me by kicking and punching at me." Subaru argued back.

"So, Gino Il Napolitano~! Have you considered playing "the forbidden game" with B-B-B-B-Bertie~? Where you boss him as if ya were his CO and he obeys?" Omega teased.

"I never do anything forbidden, sir, unlike you, sir."

"Then ya miss out a good deal of life~!"

"I don't think you know what life is for normal people, sir."

"OMEGA!" Vadous roared.

"Ops. Uncle Stephan came to fire me~!"

"What in the… Stop with those nicknames! Subaru! Kiboyama! There'll be a briefing meeting at WAXA this afternoon at 18:00 PM, so make sure to be there! Burai's forwarded some information which basically gives away who that "Centurion" jerk is." Vadous told them.

"What are we going to do with Ferné?"

"I contacted an old colleague of his father and Hibiki told him about the dialogue she'd overheard. They're not going to blame him for anything given how he was under extortion and is an obvious scapegoat. So they're going to protect him in case "Centurion" tries to shut them up. But I rather believe he won't do anything to increase their fears."

"Roger."

"Uncle Roger! The inheritance of Uncle Roger!"

"By all the… Hand that microphone over!"

"Do it, Boss, do it…"

07:07 AM (Normandy Time)…

"… Hmmm? Who is knocking at my door…? Marie and Sophie… The breakfast must be ready, then…"

Ferné climbed out of his bed and put on a brownish bath robe over his navy blue buttoned pajamas plus picked up a pair of black sandals: he headed over to the door and opened it to see both Marie and Sophie standing on the corridor while looking nervous: one of them was holding out the sealed letter.

"M-Master! The hostage… is gone!" One of them reported.

"What? Gone?" He gasped.

"There was a rope in the chimney: someone helped the hostage climb into the roof yet… They did not jump down to the ground because the alarms did not go off! So they could have used that "gateway" technology Master used to warp the vehicle into the underground room…"

"What's that, Marie?"

"We found it on the hostage's room, Master… We are not sure what it says but we believe it is addressed to you, Master…"

Ferné picked the letter which was addressed to him and he found that the seal had the purple Alphabet "V" character set on it: he gulped and took a computer-written letter out.

"Eh… "Alexander Ferné. You better follow these instructions if you want to get outta this mess alive. First get rid of the Hunter – VG. Then pick whatever belongings you have and go to the nearest police station. Speak with Inspector Lerui, a colleague of your father. He's been briefed. And if it wasn't too much asking bring the "Book of Glyphs" along so that I can return it to the original owner. You better do it before "Centurion" gets a hold that Hibiki has escaped if he hasn't already. I'm pretty sure he won't get to kill you because he prefers to keep people afraid of him so he's going to forget you soon. Point is: GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE ASAP. Vadous." … Eh… Marie, Sophie! Pick your belongings, we're leaving! We have to!"

"Roger, Master!"

"And you better not try to do any strange stuff! I didn't like Hibiki – san's complains about your snooping, you know!"

"Please forgive us, Master. We were about to commit a sin which should have been punished by…" They started saying at unison.

"I know the rest: I was taught that as well! Move!"

"Roger, Master!"

Both ran out while Ferné ran into a bathroom and shut the door to emerge a few minutes later dressed into his uniform: he quickly ran upstairs and turned on the fireplace to toss the Hunter – VG on it and let it burn: he rushed back downstairs and quickly prepared a suitcase including the glass case containing the famed "Book of Glyphs" inside: he climbed two sets of stairs and opened a door leading outside into the walled perimeter: he then ran down the right side of the house and entered a garage where the green car was at.

"Huff, huff… We gotta get away…! But I'm glad this tale's over! I don't think Hibiki – san will dedicate any time to me and I don't mind: I was not interested on her from… eh… an emotional point of view. I prefer to recognize people by their behavior and personality rather than by their gender or age..." He muttered as he opened the trunk and tossed the suitcase inside.

"We are here, Master."

Marie and Sophie ran into the garage while carrying two suitcases as well: they closed the trunk and Ferné climbed into the driver's seat while the other two sat on the rear.

_The only way I can tell them apart is by their voice and slight height difference given how they are twin sisters to begin with… Whatever. I'll have a talk with my aunt over their behavior of the other day. Let's get away from here: this manor was just a place that guy had me use because it was convenient: I won't miss it! I need to get VERY far away from here ASAP! _

17:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Good afternoon! It's been a while, Amachi – san, Utagai – san, Chief, Dr. Yoiri…"

"Welcome, Subaru – kun!"

"It's b-b-been a w-w-while…"

"Come on, Utagai… Shake off that nervousness."

"Hah! _Swan Lake_ showed up!"

"That doesn't affect me. I'm too clever to fall for that."

"My, my… What burning youth."

"Ahem, ahem. Can we save those comments for later, please?"

Subaru had come into the WAXA Command Room and met up with Amachi Mamoru, Utagai Shinsuke, Cygnus, the WAXA Chief and Dr. Yoiri inside of it: he began to exchange greetings and War Rock tried to provoke Cygnus but he was unfazed.

"What… it's funnier when they get annoyed!"

"Then you're a bully, Rock. Only bullies behave like that." Subaru annoyingly told him.

"… Che!" He played the offended.

"As always." Cygnus muttered.

"He did that in Planet FM, too?" Subaru deduced.

"Obviously. When he did something wrong he'd always play the offended: the only ones who fell for this taunts were either Ox or Wolf. Speaking of Wolf, he's still around?"

"Yeah. Ogami Juurou – san, the gardener in Kodama Elementary, is his partner. Sometimes Juurou – san gets more excited than Wolf does and Wolf has to place some limits on him.

"Somewhat ironic, even…"

"Pororon! But at least he was good at stalling for time…" Harp muttered as she shrugged.

"Oh yeah. The guy kept me busy and put up some fight even though he was at elemental disadvantage." Jack shrugged.

"Is that so? You hadn't told me, Jack." Queen Tia lifted the right eyebrow and didn't seem surprised.

"Jeez. My bad, neechan."

"I hope you haven't forgotten our deal, Queen Tia." Dr. Yoiri whispered to her.

"I have not. I have found a way around."

"As long as you don't involve that child or the Satella Police…"

"Private sector." She merely replied.

"Huh? Private sector…?" Dr. Yoiri frowned.

"If Vadous heard that he'd feel nervous." Akatsuki muttered.

"Ah? Why is that?"

"Have you forgotten why he staged Subaru's disappearance and what happened in the summer of 2204?" Akatsuki reminded her.

"Ah. Of course. But I am keeping things under control. I will not start to fall into delusions like that "Ice Queen" did…"

"Fair enough. We'll discuss this later, Queen Tia."

"If you do have the patience to listen…" She warned.

"Jeez."

"You know she is right, Shidou." Acid reminded him.

"Shut up you omnipresent proxy messenger hired and paid by Lucy and his minions." He sarcastically snapped at him.

"I cannot find such an entry in our databases."

"Chief! Air Display request…"

"Connect it!" The Chief commanded.

"Roger, sir!"

Vadous and his armchair showed up on the "Air Display" and he looked both nervous and tired.

"Good afternoon. I've been nerve-racking ever since I put the last pieces of the puzzle together and I've figured out what's going on. By that, I mean who "Centurion" is and why he staged this. Maybe I should tell you the jerk had the guts to form a projected image which "killed" Subaru but giving it was just a projected image it did nothing yet that was a warning of how he can pop out of nowhere in a totally silent manner, act, and vanish. He's already managed to make me go hysteric." He admitted with a large sigh.

"By all the…" Daigo cursed.

"So! To begin with… Burai checked the crypt. Surprise: there was a message left there using oil-based spray paint and guess in what idiom it'd been written? _In Mu Glyphs_."

"Mu Glyphs!" Subaru gasped.

"Yeah. That was pretty much what set everything into motion. Combine that with the info that it was the On'Setsu Kingdom the one to revere that "High One" god, too, and what you get? There's only living human on Earth who could come up with all this and be able to write a modern message using signs which are millennia old…" Vadous continued.

"No way…! That guy…!" Shidou groaned.

"And we thought we'd seen the last of the guy a month ago!" Misora cursed.

"Him…!" Subaru formed a grimace.

"Yeah. It's exactly who you think it is."

"… _Prince Kuroban Howsad_…!" Subaru growled.

"Bloody hell!" Jack cursed.

"Ah. So that's how it is?" Queen Tia was as cold as ice.

"Huh? Who's that?" Gonta asked.

"A terrific guy!" Subaru cursed next.

"Yeah. Remember the burnt out house in Evreux? And the painting on the wall? The painting was a red herring yet a hint as well: Howsad is a foreigner and I don't expect him to know a lot of _kanji_ so it's logical that he'd write it on _katakana_ which must be easier for him. And the house had to be a hideout, a lab. He must've _genetically engineered_ a new body for him with his _real appearance and age_… I stake anything that his accursed "Ultimate Orb" contained the exact DNA coding to allow for him to do that. And since he'd been to the "Palace" he could've copied the technology Anaya Maria AKA "Ice Queen" had there. The helmet thing must've been another red herring to make us believe in a connection to Hyde." Vadous put the pieces together.

"And now he's roaming out there ready to strike at any time to then disappear again without leaving any traces. Hell, at this rate the whole city will be filled with corpses."

"But I believe that his background mustn't allow him to kill anyone outside of a battle. So he'll most likely go after Rock Man and he may pick Harp Note or Acid Ace too… The _Three Musketeers_ could be dragged into the picture to…" Vadous muttered.

"Lovely!" The Chief grumbled.

"Totally, sir. I am at wits' end, even." Vadous confessed.

"And now we have to hope he doesn't try to use civilians as bait or as extortion… That'd be the last thing we'd need!" Akatsuki grimly muttered while slapping his forehead in defeat.

"What a…" Subaru uttered as he brandished the right fist.

_Kuroban! If you show up in front of me, then…! I'll finish what I couldn't do: I'll delete you! For the sake of my friends! And to quell your madness!_


	8. Chapter 8: Friendship

**Chapter 8: Friendship**

17:33 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 22nd…

"… Oh well… Let's go see if we find something new there, on the Big Wave store. Maybe I'll get a bargain in case someone wants to trade with me. If not I always know where to find Battle Cards…"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Uncle Jeremy says you're gonna jump into the Lake of Ages to travel to the Edo Age!"

"What silliness is that? Jeez."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Mr. Universe is about to drop by."

"YO, YO, YO!"

"Moon Disaster? What the heck are you doing here?"

"Gotta a message for ya, see."

"What now?"

"Dancing dancers of dances!"

"HUH? What's the point on that?"

"There's no point! YO, YO, YO! Only exclamation marks!"

"By all the… You're conspiring to drive me crazy too or what? Get outta here and go sing to the Viruses."

Subaru was headed for the Big Wave Store when War Rock started joking and Moon Disaster suddenly showed up atop the roof while making some kind of funky dance.

"YO, YO, YO! My new song is _Return of the Villain_! And it's gonna be into the weekly Top 10: I promise! YO, YO, YO!"

"Lovely." Subaru grumbled.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Go for it!"

"YO, YO, YO!"

Moon Disaster flipped into the air and landed atop the Wave Road before running away: Subaru directed an annoyed glare at War Rock who merely hummed a tune and played innocent.

"I'm about to ring Boss." He warned.

"I'm about to ring Agent Alpha."

"Come on. You ripped it off that criminal investigation series which is being so popular in the Kansai region." Subaru was unimpressed.

"Agent Alpha: ready to kick some streetlights!"

"By all the… Shoo, shoo." Subaru shot back.

"Deep Throat is hiding behind the Big Wave Store~!"

"Deep Throat? Who's that?" Subaru frowned.

"The one who's gonna leak to the media who "Kazimura Albert" really was and is, ya see~!"

"You mean the book I sent for publishing, _Albert's Adventures_, which is just my journal entries from back then plus an explanation note at the start and the end? The editor told me it'd sell well but all editors say the same after all." Subaru was totally unimpressed.

"Too bad, B-B-B-B-Bertie~!"

"Stop with Omega – san's annoying nickname. Did you know that Ox has a good tenor voice and plans on starting an opera career? Soon he'll be more famous than you or I combined." Subaru formed a smug smile.

"… HUH? Wha~t? That Ox! What a jerk! Just ya wait! I'll overcome you in the opera! And then… I'll become the number one alien tenor in the world! Tremble, world! Tremble, Moon Ace! Doom Man is about to descend! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"

War Rock shot out at mad speed while Subaru brought both hands to his forehead as if wanting to shake off tension.

"… It's been a while… Subaru – kun…"

"Hmmm? Huh? Ah! Y-you're…!"

"Yeah… Me…"

"… Futaba… Tsukasa – kun!"

Subaru looked up to see Futaba Tsukasa walking over to him: he'd grown a bit on height but apart from that he hadn't changed much: he still sported his usual set of clothes and the purple plastic piece on his hair.

"Yup…"

He looked tired and content at the same time given his weak smile: his walking was a bit erratic, even, so Subaru rushed to him before he could collapse and held him.

"Tsukasa – kun…! I knew they'd rescued you but I thought you weren't returning until next week!" He exclaimed.

"Truth is… I came back… on Tuesday… but… I asked that gentleman… not to tell you…" He muttered.

"Gentleman…? You mean Boss?"

"Yeah… Huh… Could you help me… walk over to the bench…? Sorry… I haven't done much exercise and my legs aren't what they used to be… But I didn't want to have to use crutches… it'd make me look like I'm weak and I'm not… that weak…" He explained.

Subaru helped him sit down and gave him a "Sweet Candy" he casually carried on a pocket: Tsukasa examined it several times.

"Oh… "Sweet Candy"… This brings back memories…"

"Tsukasa – kun… It may be abrupt, but… I'd always forgiven you for what happened back then… You weren't to blame! Hikaru wanted to use you: but what you said weren't your true beliefs! Don't be afraid of me! We've always been friends, and we'll still be!" Subaru told him.

"S-Subaru – kun… Ah… Thank you. Really… It means… a lot to me…"

"So… You've met Boss already?"

"In the hospital… He knew English, so he sort of acted as my interpreter…"

"Ah, of course… Say… Did he bring out the topic of Hikaru?"

"Well… Of course he did it… He offered me something to solve it… a chip implant… which would keep him under tabs, but I said I… wanted some days to think it over… he didn't press it… And he convinced the local authorities that I hardly was in a state to be in a court and relate what had happened… forensic evidence, the videos that man recorded, the account of the policemen who rescued me… all of those made up more than enough material which was impossible for that man and his butler to waltz outta from… Excuse me for a min…" Tsukasa slowly replied.

He took out the "Sweet Candy" and began to eat it: he then used a handkerchief to cleanse the remains and Subaru spotted that his skin looked thinner than normal.

"Ah… I can't remember when it was the last time that I ate something sweet… I thought I wouldn't get out of there alive or sane… But in that I'm in debt with Hikaru, truth to be told…" He muttered.

"In debt with Hikaru?"

"Yeah… He… liked it, actually. He'd always take control and go through it because he claimed it was "cool", "manly", "exciting", "superb" and a string of similar words… That's how I've managed to keep my sanity during this unending time… Wait… I hadn't realized…! Is that… Kodama Middle's uniform? Then… Everyone… has begun middle school?" He gasped.

"Of course. It's October, 2205, after all."

"So it's been… close to two years… ever since the FM invasion…? What's happened around here…?"

"Lot of stuff… I'll explain it to you later on."

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! So! Subari~ finally met his long-lost lover again and is questioning his fidelity to see if he went and had fun with a cooler guy 'round Oklahoma, eh?"

"W-w-what?"

"WAR ROCK! TAKE THAT BACK OR I'M RINGING BOSS HERE AND NOW! I WON'T LET YOU MAKE UP FAKE STATEMENTS HERE, IN THE MIDST OF THE SQUARE! SHUT YOUR TRAP OR YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THOSE WORDS FOR A WHOLE MONTH! GET IT?"

War Rock had showed up to kid around but Subaru exploded and yelled at him: Tsukasa looked surprised while War Rock seemed to lose his earlier confidence given how Subaru had taken out the Hunter – VG and was about to press a button on-screen labeled "CALL" with his right hand's middle finger: War Rock warped away at a maddening speed and Subaru fumed.

"That was… War Rock?" Tsukasa asked.

"Yeah. You can be glad you haven't had to endure his stupid vulgar-like jokes this whole time. He's teamed up with another person to make up silly pairings and kept on trying to provoke me by saying you were going out with someone. As if I cared!" He fumed.

"Uh-unh… Hikaru was always trying to poke at me with that, too, but he seems to have cooled down ever since we got back here… Maybe Vadous – san's talk turned him nervous, even…" Tsukasa trailed off.

"As for what's happened here until now… A lot of stuff. But the worrisome part is that we've got a jerk out there that could show up anytime and do some damage. Or try to kill me, too."

"E~H? B-b-but… Why?"

"He's gotten the idea into the head that I'm a "fake hero" or "fake prophet" or whatever. I didn't really beat him when we battled but Boss helped me turn off his fighting capabilities before he fled. The guy can't be totally sane either but the explanation can wait." He sighed.

"Hum… I see… Say… Where does Vadous – san live? And why do you name him "Boss"? I thought you were part of a Satella Police Unit?"

"Well… Long story… I thought "Boss" sounded cool, so I got stuck to using that… And as where he lives… Hmmm… I know. We'll go visit. Let me ring him up." He smiled.

"A-alright…"

Subaru pressed the "CALL" button and Vadous quickly showed up onscreen drinking a treta brik containing pineapple juice using a straw: he looked up (towards the screen) and seemed surprised.

"Ah! Subaru. What's up?"

"Eh… Boss. Could you open a gateway somewhere so that _we_ can come to visit? By "us" I mean me and Tsukasa – kun."

"Oh! Futuba's there? So he finally came… Sure, no problem! Hum… Can he walk well or is he still weak?"

"He's still weak, so…"

"Hum… A discrete place… Is there anything behind your house?"

"Behind my house? No."

"Good. Then go there and I'll open the gateway to get here. I'll be waiting for your arrival. Later." He smiled at them.

"Roger, Boss!"

Subaru placed the Hunter – VG on the usual spot and then helped Tsukasa walk with him by passing his right arm over the shoulders.

"S-sorry for the burden…"

"Don't worry! You're my friend, Tsukasa – kun!"

"T-thank you."

Subaru helped him walk until the rear of the house where the purple "gateway" had opened: Tsukasa looked surprised but Subaru smiled at him as they stopped in front of it.

"Don't worry. You won't notice anything at all. It'll be over before you can even blink twice." Subaru smiled at him.

"If y-you say so…"

"Are you ready? Let's go!"

They both stepped inside and the world became a purple tunnel extending across pure blackness sometimes illuminated by purple static electricity: some "force" gripped both of them and they shot forward across the tunnel only to immediately step out into a metallic room from a machine identical to the one "Centurion" had been working on: the gateway closed and Tsukasa looked around in a bewildered manner.

"W-where are we? What happened?"

"Calm down! That was a new travel system. It's a tunnel which allows one to travel at close-to-light-speed thus shortening the travel time a lot when it's short distances. The field protects our body structure and because travel times take less than a second's time there's no need for special equipment or anything." Subaru explained.

"W-whoa!"

"Now follow me…"

They stepped into a metallic corridor in the shape of a curve and having several armored doors built on the sides plus arches supporting the sections of it: the floor was metallic and the ceiling had fluorescent light tubes installed on it: Tsukasa looked around with awe.

"Where are we?" Tsukasa asked Subaru.

"The HQ! A gigantic invisible spaceship…" He let out.

"Spaceship! Whoa!" Tsukasa whistled in admiration.

"Heh, heh! I'm full of surprises by now!" Subaru giggled.

"You sure are, Subaru – kun…"

"Over here…"

They stopped in front of a door labeled "ELEVATOR TO COMMAND BRIDGE" and Subaru opened it: the room behind the door only contained a cargo elevator and its climbing shaft: both stepped into it after Subaru closed the door and he inputted a command into the console to start it up and climb upwards.

"Whoa! This place must be huge if you need to ride a cargo elevator to get to the command bridge!"

"Of course. There are three habitable decks and the docking bays. Think of it as a giant cylinder with a dome built around it plus a secondary dome on the top." Subaru described.

"Cool…!"

The elevator stopped and they stepped out into the command bridge where they found Vadous discussing with Omega.

"… And be it the last time you mess around with a storage bay's password to put something so… so… vulgar! Get it?"

"Don't ya mean S-related stuff, _shachou_~?"

"NO! And now get your blond hair outta here before I get annoyed. Move it, bludger!" Vadous snapped at him.

"My, my! Australia Man came with the 6:66 PM ship from Baja California, it'd seem!"

"By all the… 6:66 PM doesn't exist and never existed! Get out of this room before there's a disaster!"

"A disaster sponsored by Acid Disaster?"

"NO!"

"Oho! So ya are Futaba, eh? Ya are quick, B-B-B-B-Bertie~! Ya already hooked him up!" Omega spotted them.

"Do excuse me?" Tsukasa asked.

"GET OUT OR I'LL DRAG YOU OUT MYSELF!" Vadous roared as he stood up and signaled the elevator's platform on the southern end.

"Roger, _shachou_~!

Omega shot past them in a blur but left two "lipstick mark" stickers on their cheeks while giggling and going down with the elevator: both blushed and quickly ripped them off.

"That was Omega – san, an android. But he has a totally lame sense of humor enough to drive anyone crazy. War Rock got his bad habits from him, sadly enough." Subaru fumed.

"No wonder…" Tsukasa muttered.

"Welcome aboard, Futaba." Vadous greeted as he sat down on the armchair and sighed.

"Eh… Thank you, Vadous – san…"

"Have you thought of my other offer?"

"Other offer…? Ah! To move to somewhere else and leave the orphanage… Well… Truth to be told… I'd like that a lot, sir… I have almost no belongings, so I could move anytime…" Tsukasa seemingly recalled before giving him an answer.

"We could give you one of our rooms here. Next to Kiboyama."

"I am afraid I do not know who "Kiboayama" is, sir…"

"Ah. True, true. Well… Subaru! Could you introduce you to him? I'm sure they'd get along nicely." Vadous requested.

"Sure. Gino – kun will be glad to have some company."

"I'll let you know what I think once I see the… room, Vadous – san. Thank you for… everything." Tsukasa smiled at him.

"Don't mind it. I want to feel helpful."

"Oh yeah! Brad Shad just defeated Kiboyama in the "forbidden game" yessir!" Omega's voice rang out of the speakers.

"By all the… The guy performed a "Cyber In" into the computer and now is hijacking the speakers? OMEGA~!"

"Vad Ous Man showed up! We should have an Er Sidi Man too!"

"We'll have none of that! Get outta the computer!"

"Find me firstly, _shachou_~!"

Subaru and Tsukasa had already reached the bottom of the shaft and they came out into the corridor just as Kiboyama came running it up from the left while looking both flustered and annoyed.

"By all the… I have to report this: it's gone over the border! I don't like anyone making up lies about me! Can't one just solve the homework for next week or what?" He cursed.

"Oi! Gino – kun!"

"Ah! Subaru – kun… And you are?" Kiboyama asked.

"Futaba Tsukasa."

"Kiboyama Gino! Nice to meet you, Tsukasa – kun. I'd heard about you from _iinchou_ and the others."

"Whoa! _Iinchou_… Is she still the commanding type?"

"Totally. Gonta's now afraid to death of her 'cause he's turning more and more incompetent with the studies. Kizamaro now claims he's _meitantei_ Kizamaro so he's somewhat in the clouds. We got a new student after you left our group, Jack. He may strike as rude but he's a nice guy deep inside, after all." Subaru smiled.

"So, you'd be joining us?"

"Once I see the room…"

"Oh. The room is ready to be fitted out in whatever way you feel like doing it… I for example put up HD pictures of mysterious spots on Earth such as the Easter Island, the Nanska Village, Machu Pichu and such. These things intrigue me, you see." Gino admitted.

"Hmmm… Sounds fun. But nothing beats examining it yourself."

"Of course not. Go on ahead. I need to talk with Vadous – san over Omega – san's behavior."

"And, finally! The Triangle is complete! We'll have some "intense" action around here soon enough one evening at shower time! Make sure to make queue to get the tickets!"

"NYA~H! OMEGA~! SOMEONE~! SIGMA! BLOOD! FIND THE GUY INSIDE OF THE COMPUTER AND LOCK HIM UP IN THERE! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ORDER! GOT IT? MOVE IT!" Vadous yelled over the speakers.

"I think he's trying to solve it somehow." Subaru muttered as he looked at the ceiling.

"Sir Omega, sir… You should listen to Boss, sir…" Blood Shadow timidly called out.

"Yo! Brad Shad! I knew it!"

"That I'd be coming first, you mean, sir?"

"No, no! I knew that you want to be the 4th one and instead of a triangle we get a rotated square!" Omega laughed.

"Sir Omega, sir! I do not have built-in capabilities for the things you are hinting towards, sir! Boss told you, sir!" Blood Shadow protested.

"Why do they call him "Brad Shad" instead of "Blood"?" Tsukasa asked Subaru.

"His full name is Blood Shadow and he's based on my "Rock Man" design to begin with… Apparently Moon Disaster, a lone Denpa Body from the moon, misheard his name and said that aloud. And Omega – san happened to be around so he picked it up to nag at him. Then we have Sigma – san, a tall black-colored demon-like giant… And Omega – san names him "Stigma Man" just to poke at him. This is almost like the fools' ship." Subaru detailed.

"Like Subaru – kun said… Sigma – san sometimes does silly jokes but at least he tends to listen to Vadous – san…"

"Let's go down to the 2nd Deck, then. The closer elevator is close by… Do you have trouble walking?"

"I haven't done proper exercise in a lot of time and my body was immobilized most of the time, so…" Tsukasa confessed.

"Ops. Sorry for bringing something unpleasant up."

"D-don't worry… I can handle it…."

They walked down a segment of the corridor and stepped into an elevator which had four buttons labeled "3rd Deck", "2nd Deck", "1st Deck" and "Docking Bays" respectively: Kiboyama pressed the "2nd Deck" button and the elevator silently descended before it stopped with a ping and unlocked the doors.

"To the right now. The empty room is right next to mine."

They headed rightwards and stopped in front of a door labeled "GUEST ROOM #08" built next to another labeled "KIBOYAMA GINO" written with purple ink: Kiboyama frowned.

"Weird. That wasn't here when I left."

"No way…" Subaru groaned.

He pressed one finger against it and checked it out.

"Fresh paint… Omega – san now is trying to make it look like you behave in a weird manner." Subaru cursed.

Kiboyama cursed under his breath and quickly ran into the room while Subaru opened the other room's door and found a bed, a desk, a chair and an adjacent bathroom cubicle plus a built-in cupboard: he helped Tsukasa sit down on the chair and he looked around.

"… It looks bare but… At least it's better than the bunks… I've decided now! I'll live here. Gino – kun struck as being a nice person. I guess I'll need some physical rehabilitation first but… I'd be nice if I could join the group… again…" He muttered as he formed a weak smile.

"I'm sure that, with your intelligence, you could catch up soon enough and be allowed into the group after passing one or several exams. Boss will find a way around it… And… Welcome back."

Subaru stretched out his right hand and Tsukasa doubted for a second but then shook it while formed a smile of relief on his face.

_Welcome back, Tsukasa – kun!_


	9. Chapter 9: End of a rule

**Chapter 9: End of a rule**

10:14 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 23rd…

"… So? Why did you call us and told us to come here, Subaru – kun? It must be something important, right?"

"He's got tickets for a new terror film!"

"Come on, Gonta – kun… Be serious."

"That fatty guy can only think of food."

"Heh, heh! I know what this is about but I won't spoil it."

"My, my."

"Probabilities of a surprise happening clock at 95%..."

"Buro~! Snap outta it, Gonta!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I bring disaster along! That of yesterday evening had to be my work, too."

"Huh? What? You mean that murder in Akita City in which the author wrote the Alphabet letter "A" in the victim's back because he was named Ames? Come on. That's gotta be a lunatic's work, War Rock."

"So it's her work?"

"WHA~T?"

"Jeez. I mean a crazy guy! Don't take things literally!"

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah. I'm a genius, yessir, and Akatsuki is now gonna have to go through Queen Tia's Royal Diet of Death."

"Is that how he calls it? Jeez. Akatsuki – san's sarcasm…"

The usual gang (Luna, Gonta, Kizamaro, Jack, Kiboyama, Mode, Pedia, Ox, War Rock and Subaru) were hanging around Kodama Town's square while War Rock played a joke which Luna didn't like in the least: Subaru rolled his eyes in exasperation while Jack shrugged, Kiboyama giggled, Gonta day-dreamed and Kizamaro tried to snap him outta it.

"Hello… Everyone."

"Whoa!"

"Who's that?"

"Tsukasa – kun?"

"Wha! Tsukasa, ya say?"

"So that guy's THE Tsukasa?"

Tsukasa walked into the square with the help of a pair of crutches and forming a weak smile: everyone (except Subaru and Kiboyama) gasped upon recognizing it yet Jack merely looked curious.

"I'd heard about him." Mode muttered.

"I had as well." Pedia admitted.

"Buro~! The Thunder God Gemini's host, huh? Man. The guy was creepy and even more by finishing Ophiucus off." Ox muttered.

"It's been a while… _Iinchou_… Kizamaro – kun, Gonta – kun."

"Subaru – kun has been searching for you in a maddening manner! So you're finally back?"

"Yeah. And once I pass the level tests then I'll be able to join the class group, too." He admitted with a smile.

"What happened to your legs?" Gonta asked.

"I had an accident." He replied.

"Oh. So… Those rumors about you being held hostage… Were they true, after all?" Kizamaro asked.

"… Yeah. But I'd rather not speak of it."

"Of course, of course… I just wanted to clear that out."

"I'm Jack. Don't look down on me 'cause I'm a bit shorter."

"I never look down on people, Jack – kun."

"We'd already met yesterday, so…" Kiboyama (wearing jeans, a brown shirt, an open green sleeveless vest and white sneakers) shrugged.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah! Now the actors have finally been gathered… It's time for the scriptwriter to make an appearance! Today I win and that bothersome Rock Man will be deleted!"

"By all the… Not him again."

They gasped upon seeing Phantom Black standing atop the Big Wave store and having a psychotic grin on his face.

"Hyde… Stop bothering us and go collect lilies!" Subaru growled.

"Is that…?" Tsukasa asked.

"A bandit!" Luna cursed.

"One of the Mu Continent crisis instigators… Phantom Black! Real name: Hyde!" Kizamaro announced.

"The Mu Continent crisis, you say? I remember that!" Tsukasa gasped.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah! Today I win!"

"Not so fast, you lowlife."

BLAF! PATAF! TCHAC! THUD! BLOMPF! CRASH!

"Gua~h! Burai! You lowlife~!"

"That's my motto."

Burai had showed up from behind Phantom Black and began to deliver some kicks and punches to him while also striking his armor using the Laplace Blade.

"That's Burai: a survivor of the Mu Tribe! He used to be rather hostile given some bad experiences when he was young but he ended up turning a bit lesser hostile… Yet he hates Phantom Black because he back-stabbed him once… And before you ask: he's not the man whom we're afraid of right now. This one is a fool who never learns his lesson and always comes to be beaten up." Subaru narrated.

"So he's not dangerous?"

"Not at all. He's predictable and stupid."

"I heard that!" Phantom Black growled.

"Don't you lowlife dare to run away. The battle isn't over yet. I'll defeat you lowlife." Burai warned.

"Bring it on, bludger!" Phantom Black taunted.

"Do you think Australian slang is gonna have any effect at all on the guy's behavior, Hyde?" Phantom sighed.

"Oi, Hyde! When that crazy guy reaches the "H" letter then he'll be coming for ya~!" War Rock laughed.

"Wha~t?" Phantom Black growled.

"Hmpf. Eat this!"

Burai delivered an array of kicks and punches all over Phantom Black's body and he growled while he tried to use the stick to block some of them and not recoil so much: Burai suddenly hit his lower jaw, he lost balance and fell into the river crossing through the middle of the town with a loud SPLASH sound: he emerged and cursed but Burai then yanked his neck and began to swing him around before throwing him towards the horizon.

"I WILL HAVE REVENGE~!" He cursed before he vanished.

"Hmpf. Weakling… Remember, Rock Man. I'll call you one day. And we have pending scores to settle." Burai told him.

"I know." Subaru shrugged.

"Hmpf. Fine. Later."

"Alright! Ma'am! Can you please take a photo?"

"Sure."

They all posed for a group photo while a lady took it: they then smiled and laughed in a joyful tone of voice…

10:22 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Amachi – san! Amachi – san! Oh! It's terrible, sir!"

"What happened, Utagai – kun?"

"T-the vending machine, sir…! The can compartment is full of blood and there's a severed human hand inside, sir…!"

"WHAT?"

"What, what?"

"A human hand, he said?"

"The Akita murdered showed up here?"

"Impossible!"

Utagai, being totally pale, ran into the Command Room and raised the alarm, to everyone's shock and consternation.

"No one panic!" The Chief commanded.

"Calm down!" Dr. Yoiri added.

"Hmmm…" Queen Tia directed a suspicious glare at Akatsuki.

"Oi, oi. It wasn't me! I've been here the whole time! Right, Acid?"

"Certainly." Acid confirmed.

"Then how did that thing end there?" Daigo wondered.

"Send someone to check it out!"

"Chief, sir! They're holograms, sir!" An officer reported.

"Kuroban's idea of a cruel joke?" The Chief cursed.

"It could be, sir."

"Or, rather…" Akatsuki sounded suspicious.

"Heh, heh, heh. Catching up, Officer Akatsuki – sama~? The Kansai Butcher has come here~!"

"Omega. That was of a very poor taste and you know it."

Omega showed up behind Akatsuki while looking amused: the whole room was filled with sighs and grumblings.

"OMEGA! What have you done now? Why did you leave HQ without my permit, huh?" Vadous roared.

"Ask Brad Shad: he was busy playing with Kiboyama!"

"Blood's on a patrol, Kiboyama is in Kodama Town and Sigma went for a patrol as well! Come back here! We have to TALK about these escapades and about setting off fake alarms!" Vadous growled.

"Tell that to Moon Ace as well, _shachou_~!"

The purple gateway formed behind Omega and pulled him inside before it closed and everyone sighed in relief at getting rid of him.

"What a guy!" Akatsuki cursed.

"Really…" Daigo fumed.

"Thank goodness it wasn't real!" Utagai muttered.

"That was so idiotic…" Cygnus grumbled.

"Remember, Akatsuki. I will be watching." Queen Tia warned.

"Jeez. Go fish." Akatsuki grumbled.

"We aren't playing cards, Shidou." Acid reminded him.

"Go fish again." Akatsuki snapped back.

"Those two…" Dr. Yoiri sighed.

"I know. They're like opposites of a coin." The Chief sighed.

"Mood up, Akatsuki!" Daigo rallied.

"That's easy to say." Akatsuki grumbled.

The group sighed in defeat as Queen Tia kept on starting at Akatsuki like he was to blame for everything…

10:29 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello! Welcome back, Tsukasa – kun!"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Chut! It's a secret…"

"Is that so…?"

The group had been chatting in Kodama Town square when a girl joined them: she wore a brown trench coat, a navy blue cap and sunglasses plus jeans and white sneakers.

"Veronica – chan from 1 – B! Welcome." Subaru announced.

He then made the "silence" sign to Tsukasa and "Veronica" sat down next to him to show him the Hunter – VG where Harp was at: she blinked him an eye and he gasped.

"… Hibiki Misora – chan…?" He whispered.

"Yeah! I can't go out without a disguise because then I'm surrounded by hordes of fans…!" She whispered back.

"Any news on what became of Ferné?" Subaru asked.

"He's been placed under witness protection and they really couldn't bring anything to blame him for given Kuroban's threats."

"Ah. Good. The jerk must be waiting for a chance… And what's stopping him from creating a distraction in the form of that murder, anyway? I'm pretty sure he's behind it." Subaru whispered.

"Bah. Let's discuss this on another day. We've got plenty of time. Let's enjoy it!" Misora smiled.

"Alright! Let's move on! We've got the adventure of middle school underway: let's enjoy it!" Subaru rallied with a grinned.

"_BANZAI_~!"

Everyone laughed in a jovial tone…

23:39 PM (Japan Time)…

THUD!

"… Ya did it, _aibou_?"

"True. This foolish elder is no more."

"Heh! I'd rather say this gramps got busted."

"Hmpf. What foolishness, I laugh at it! One man to rule the world? Secret maneuvers? Complots, deposition of governments, internal sabotage, spies? This world has grown cowardly! Wars questioned, wars criticized, wars over resources? No! Wars are fought to defend your territory from the invader. Why do you think battlements were erected, if not?"

"As always ya are right in everything. But since I owe ya really big then I'm totally interested in tagging around, _aibou_. That's our deal, right?"

"It is, Gray."

"Centurion" or, rather, Prince Kuroban Howsad, was looming over a man lying face-up on the ground: the man appealed to be past his 60s given his grayish hair and decayed facial features: he wore a white cape and blue silk clothes with golden patterns drawn on it: a cauterized sword burn could be seen on the middle of his chest.

"Gotta say your Denpa – Henkan forms rocks."

"Hmpf. Thanks for the compliment."

The helmet design was compact and thick included silver plating around the neck and its base, a main purple and black coloring, black shades and a green symbol which looked like a unicursal hexagram colored pale green and having some unknown runes written on its circular edge was painted on the forehead.

The same symbol was set on the middle of his chest.

His shoulders were black ellipsoids with purple-colored outer edges and having some other green fluorescent runic symbols drawn over them which glowed when in the shade.

His arms "skin" was black in color and the armor over the forearms had an external golden rim from which three parallel golden lines extended until the fingertips.

The feet armor started at the knees and used a tint of purple for the outer edges but the main armor kept on using the black motif: silver-colored lines extended parallel to each other until the feet fingertips.

The unarmored body "skin" was also black in color and had intricate green fluorescent patterns running down its sides, front and rear.

His design was reminiscent of Rock Man and of Burai at the same time.

"Heh, heh, heh. Things are about to turn interesting, yessir."

Kuroban's companion, "Gray", couldn't be seen because he'd picked an unlit corner of the square room having white tiles in the floor, ground and ceiling: two closed oak doors were set on the western wall, the eastern one had a large world map drawn on it and the south wall had two open balcony doors: the north end of the room had an elevated platform with three stone steps climbing until they reached a white marble throne.

"Now I shall dispose of the body and we shall wait. The fools down there will eventually begin to think of what could have happened yet when I reveal myself they will already have formed the idea that I was chosen to replace this elder. Ultimate Orb! Warp!"

A spheroid having four corners colored blue, green, brown and purple plus having two black-colored metallic rings circling it vertically and horizontally became visible as it was lodged on the chest armor: the whole thing hovered into the air and emitted a golden glow.

"Destination! Pacific Ocean! Random Point! Execute Program! _Aayos muteous yazei_! Let the Royal Authority express its will!"

A circle with a purple edge formed around the corpse and the ground inside of it displayed an aerial view of somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where a storm was happening.

"Sink and never rise again! You foolish elder!"

The corpse "sunk" into the image and the circle then vanished while Kuroban lifted the "Ultimate Orb" to be over his head.

"Heh, heh, heh. And that whelp out there has gotta be wondering what happened on Wednesday. Maybe those clever guys ya mentioned will catch up but it'll be way too late by then." The mysterious "Gray" chuckled: his voice sounded slightly familiar.

"Obviously. I realized that you had potential which could be unleashed and so I used the technology I stolen from the "flying palace" to allow for you to gain it. And the new Denpa – Henkan form I have given you should be enough to complement it." Kuroban told him.

"Yeah. And ya need some lessons on modern Japanese, too. Yours sounds foreign and somewhat old-fashioned. But, hey, no offense intended, ya know, _aibou_." "Gray" told him.

"No, I generally don't… eh… mind the fact. But it's true that I could try to… improve… my Japanese. And maybe I should try to learn some of that other language… What was the name again?"

"English, ya mean? Yeah. Nowadays it's one of the Top 3 most-spoken idioms and most research stuff plus businesses are conducted in English so maybe ya should learn a bit of it."

"True, true. Anyway… Close the balcony doors. We don't need the rain to soak the room, so…" He shrugged.

"I don't mind being named "Gray" but my real name is Futaba Hikaru, ya know! Maybe I should be changing it by something cooler… Hmmm… I just thought of a nice name… Eisei Aaron! From now on, I'll be Eisei Aaron! It sounds manlier and has a bit of irony to it! But I guess ya don't catch it yet, _aibou_…"

Futaba Hikaru or, rather, Eisei Aaron, came out of the spot while toying with a strange device which he had on his right hand: he wore the same style of clothes Tsukasa did yet his eyes' irises were red and his face displayed an evil snicker.

"Oh? And what would that irony be about? Gray."

"… "Eisei" means "satellite"… And the "sei" _kanji_ in "eisei" is the same as in _hoshikawa_'s "_hoshi_"! Yet his name stands for "star-river" and "star" sometimes takes the meaning of "planet" or "world" … And if you add the _kanji_ _jinkou_, "artificial", to my name, you get "artificial satellite"… But my whole point is: Hoshikawa and I share the name _kanji_ in our surnames, ya see!" He detailed.

"I see. So that one's about "star-rivers" yet you are a "satellite" or a "moon" yet you could be ascended to "man-made satellite"… Interesting, really interesting. I won't mind. I like ironies. It proves that one's mindset is quite developed." Kuroban smiled.

Eisei headed over to the balcony doors and shut them close while pulling the curtains: Kuroban then climbed up the steps and sat down on the throne while looking around in an amused manner.

"Ya had never sat down on one before, right?"

"How could I? My father was still alive when the last battle. And only the real King could be allowed to sit on it. Close family members may stand at his sides but all vassals had to kneel in front of the first step without touching it." Kuroban admitted.

"Aren't those weapons bulky?"

"True. Program Cancellation! Aristeros Shield! Dexia Sword!"

The shield and sword dematerialized while Eisei pocketed something on his pants' right pocket.

"So… What now?

"We both need to train. I have only battled for real once. And you still have to get used to your new Denpa – Henkan form in which you have to battle alone and no longer worry about coordinating with your other half… We'll be busy. And once we're ready then the real thing will begin, Gray."

"By "real stuff" ya mean that "Elite Unit" which you told me that you were intended in creating, _aibou_?" Eisei guessed.

"Correct, Gray. An "Elite Unit" trained in the usage of solo "Denpa Henkan"… If you want to defeat the enemy and turn the tides then use their techniques against them! I guess that Burai lowlife would get a terrific outburst of anger upon seeing how others are copying his power and spitting at his feet… Or, rather, at the feet of the foolish Mu Tribe! I would love to see his face but I am afraid it won't happen. And you know the reason I built that machine, right, Gray?" He sounded totally amused and had a smug smile drawn across his face.

"Of course, _aibou_. Heh, heh, heh. Tsukasa… Ya were too much of a whelp but at least ya unwillingly provided me with something interesting and entertaining during a large period of time… I've learned several arts and I will one day put them to good use…" Eisei muttered while his eyes shone with pure malice.

"I see you're motivated. Excellent. Well then… My research proved that no – one lives in this floor of the building and access is restricted. We can procure everything we need easily. We can pick a room each and I'm sure there'll be plenty of others to use for future "Elite Unit" members. Hah, hah, hah… Everything is proceeding just as planned!"

"Good. And we can create a fake recording to convince the cook that we're his new bosses. I know a bit about modern food and such so I could fetch some of it sometimes as well. After all… The organization this man lead has a huge budget. Who's gonna miss a small meaningless portion to begin with?" Eisei suggested next.

"Clever reasoning, Gray. Now… Let us see who will challenge me! Come at me, foolish plebeians! The "High One" thirsts for your blood! And then His thirst shall be soothed!" Kuroban eagerly exclaimed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Try to face us ya get a ticket to the Realm of the Dead, ya know. Come anytime~! I'll pound ya a hundred times! I'm invincible, ya see~! And ya can't hope to go back alive~! We'll rise to power! Heh, heh, heh, heh…"

Both villains chuckled under their breaths and sounded victorious…

**THE END**


End file.
